Police allege school intruder hid in bathroom stall, grabbed child

Winnipeg police have charged a man after he allegedly snuck into an elementary school and grabbed a student in the washroom. Harrison Shin reports.

A convicted sex offender has been arrested after Winnipeg police allege an intruder in an elementary school hid inside a bathroom stall and grabbed a child.

The details come after Darwin School, in St. Vital, was put into a hold-and-secure for about an hour Thursday afternoon. In a letter to parents obtained by CTV News, School Principal Erin Enns said an “unknown individual” had entered the school, prompting staff to initiate a hold-and-secure as a precaution.

Winnipeg police would not identify the school involved – referring to it only as an elementary school in the St. Vital area under the Louis Riel School Division.

Police confirmed a ‘complete stranger’ was able to get into the school and hide inside a bathroom stall. When a student was coming out of the next stall, police said the man grabbed the child.

“The child fought back and managed to break free from the suspect, ran to a teacher and made a report,” said Const. Dani McKinnon, a public information officer with the Winnipeg Police Service.

She noted the student was not physically injured and did not require medical attention.

‘Eagle-eyed’ witness helps police arrest suspect

Though the school was put into a hold and secure, police said the suspect escaped before officers arrived.

McKinnon said an ‘eagle-eyed’ witness in the school’s front parking lot spotted a suspicious man running away and followed him in their vehicle to a nearby mall.

“From what I learned, it sounds like they just happened to be at the right place at the right time,” McKinnon said.

She said thanks to this witness, police were able to find the suspect very quickly and, along with mall security, arrested the man in the mall parking lot.

‘This is a very disturbing incident’: police arrest 28-year-old man

Winnipeg police’s child abuse unit took over the investigation and has charged 28-year-old Scott William George with assault, forcible confinement and two counts of failure to comply with a prohibition regarding children.

McKinnon said the man was known to police and was detained in custody. The charges and allegations against him have not been tested in court.

According to court records obtained by CTV News, George pled guilty to sexual interference in 2022. His criminal history dates back to 2015 and shows several ‘failure to comply with conditions’ charges and others, such as unlawful dwelling in a home and weapons violations.

McKinnon would not speak to any motive, but said the investigation is ongoing.

“At the end of the day, this is a very disturbing incident,” she said, adding the child abuse unit is working with the victim’s school.

“Often when this sort of event occurs, students have questions and want to talk about what happened,” Enns said in the letter to parents. “I am sharing this information so that everyone in our community receives accurate information.”

Enns said a team of administrators, student services teachers and clinical services staff are available at the school to provide more support to staff and students as needed.

‘A situation that no child or family or staff should ever have to face’

The Louis Riel School Division Superintendent Christian Michalik said everyone in the division is shaken by the incident.

“A situation that no child, or family, or staff should ever have to face,” Michalik told CTV News on Friday.

He said police were able to respond within minutes.

“Many doors remain locked and are never opened at any point in the day. But a school is a community of children and adults, and those adults are not only staff – but family members, staff that come from another part of the school division.

“The important thing is that not only is that about locking doors, keeping doors locked, but it’s also about the vigilance looking out for each other.”