Kinew calls for review of sex-offender release notifications

Premier Wab Kinew is seeking a review of Manitoba’s criteria and guidelines for warning the public about high-risk sex offenders, after an intruder attacked a student at a Winnipeg school.

Kinew wrote to an advisory committee’s chair Tuesday to “strongly urge” a review amid questions and criticism over the fact Manitobans weren’t previously notified about the accused — a registered sex offender who twice breached a court order not to be near children prior to Thursday’s assault at Darwin School.

“Specifically, we are concerned about repeat offenders and the ongoing monitoring of those who have offended sexually and public notifications of their release,” Kinew wrote.

“When a convicted sex offender breaches their bail conditions, the whole context of the bail violation should be taken into account by the (community notification advisory committee) and the decision to notify the public must prioritize public safety.

“If someone on the sex offender registry violates bail at a school, it seems in situations like these the public should be notified.”

Convicted sex offender Scott William George, 28, is charged with assault, forcible confinement and two counts of failing to comply with a prohibition regarding children in the Darwin School incident.

He is accused of entering through an unlocked door, hiding inside a washroom and grabbing a girl, who managed to escape and alert a teacher.

Kinew told reporters changes to the committee’s policies are necessary.

“What I understand of the current policies is that when somebody on the registry breaches bail, community notification is only automatic if the bail violation is related to an offence that is sexual in nature,” Kinew said.

“I think when we think about a situation where somebody’s on that sex offender registry, they’re at a school when they’re not supposed to be, they get charged for it, they breach their bail conditions — to me, that seems like it’s close enough.

“The common sense test would dictate that in a situation like that, the public should be notified.”

“If someone on the sex offender registry violates bail at a school, it seems in situations like these the public should be notified.”

The committee reviews cases involving convicted sex offenders thought to be at high risk of reoffending, and advises police about whether to warn the public about offenders living in the community.

Its membership includes representatives of the criminal justice and mental health systems, including police services, provincial and federal corrections departments, and Manitoba Health.

The committee is asked to make a recommendation about whether to warn the public when police believe a convicted sex offender, who is about to be released from jail or is already living in a community, poses a threat.

Manitoba was first province to set up this type of community notification system regarding high-risk sex offenders.

George was not subject to a community notification, meaning he was not on a provincial website that lists notifications issued as far back as 1995. Kinew has said both circumstances should have happened.

The Winnipeg Police Service has said the “multi-organizational process” in which notifications are considered was followed in George’s case, and ultimately a notification was not issued.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan blamed the NDP for George not being subject to a notification nor being on the list of current and past notifications.

“I think that failure lies solely with this minister of justice and this premier,” he told reporters. “(George) has repeated these sexual offences, these violent actions towards children, and the premier isn’t doing anything but writing a strongly worded letter to the committee after the fact.”

“The common sense test would dictate that in a situation like that, the public should be notified.”

Khan used air quotes when he referred to it as “strongly worded.”

The committee can issue a Manitoba-wide warning or an alert that is limited to a specific community or group, both with a news release to the media, or it can issue a targeted notification to a specific community or group with no news release.

“After reviewing the case, the committee may decide that the offender does not pose a high risk or that in the circumstances a warning or other action is not needed,” the province’s website said.

The committee may recommend that police conduct surveillance or apply for a court order in an attempt to prevent the offender from being in contact with children.

The Free Press has contacted the committee for comment.

George has been a registered sex offender since he pleaded guilty to sexual interference and was sentenced to two years custody after admitting to groping a six-year-old girl in the lobby of the Scotiabank Theatre on St. James Street in July 2022.

At a sentencing hearing in June, court heard George violated a court order barring him from spaces where children could reasonably be expected to be twice this year.

In February, George was found in St. Vital Park. Police let him out on an undertaking and dropped him off at a shelter.

He wandered inside Dakota Collegiate on March 18 at about 8 a.m. before police found him in the fenced area of a football field while he was followed by a vice-principal, court heard.

George was drinking beer and sniffing an unknown substance. He was at the time living on a riverbank.

The Manitoba government has directed all school divisions to review their emergency plans after the Darwin School incident. The province wants all schools to have controlled entrances.

Nothing — including the expansion of police officers, or school resource officers, in schools — is off the table, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said.

— with files from Erik Pindera

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca