Man now accused of grabbing Winnipeg elementary student groped 6-year-old at movie theatre in 2022

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WARNING: This story contains details of the sexual touching of a child.

A 28-year-old charged after a child was grabbed in a St. Vital elementary school bathroom this week has an “unenviable” criminal record that includes groping a child, and breached his conditions as a registered sex offender by wandering through a high school earlier this year.

Scott William George has been charged with assault, forcible confinement and two counts of failing to comply with a prohibition involving children after the St. Vital incident, Winnipeg police said Friday.

Police allege he entered an elementary school on Thursday and hid in a bathroom, then grabbed a student after they came out of another stall. The child was able to escape and was not physically hurt, police said.

They did not name the school, but the Louis Riel division’s superintendent has confirmed it was Darwin School, a kindergarten to Grade 8 school.

Court records show George has been a registered sex offender since he pleaded guilty in 2023 to sexual interference. He was sentenced to two years for that crime, which involved sexually touching a person under 16 years old in July 2022.

In that case, George went to a movie theatre in the Polo Park area after 11 a.m., where he “randomly and bluntly” walked up to a six-year-old girl who was with her family, groped her and then fled, according to court recordings reviewed by CBC News.

‘Little remorse or insight’

Police arrested George less than half an hour after the incident, noting that his speech was slurred and that he smelled of an unknown solvent, court heard in April 2023.

He had consumed lacquer and hand sanitizer that day, court heard. George has a long history of substance abuse that goes back to when he was 10 years old, which includes sniffing solvents and using meth, court heard. 

In an interview following his arrest, investigators noted that George had “little remorse or insight” into the seriousness of the groping, which he admitted to. He was later found masturbating in a police station bathroom, court heard.

The judge noted how “traumatic” the incident must have been for the child and her family, saying such events can “haunt parents for a long time.”

The judge also observed that George was “unengaged” throughout the hearing, which he spent looking at his hands, and that he had a “lack of willingness to seek treatment for anything.”

The judge asked George if wanted to say anything before the hearing ended.

“No, I don’t have nothing to say,” George replied.

“You really need to get your addictions under control,” the judge told him. “What you did … was extremely bad.”

Found wandering in high school

As a registered sex offender, George was prohibited from having contact with children or being in spaces where they would typically be.

But he breached those conditions twice earlier this year, a court heard in June.

In February, George was found in a bathroom at St. Vital Park. Police dropped him off at a homeless shelter, court heard.

In March, lawyers said a custodian at Dakota Collegiate saw George “walking back and forth in the hallways” half an hour before classes were scheduled to begin. School staff followed him to the gym and to the football field, where he was arrested.

That high school is just blocks away from Darwin.

Court heard George was openly drinking beer and sniffing an unknown substance while roaming the school. He had no fixed address at that point and was living on a riverbank.

The Crown prosecutor in that case said that George has an “unenviable criminal record,” which stretches back to 2015, court records show.

It includes convictions for breaking and entering, theft, forcible entry, mischief and weapons-related offences.

The prosecutor also noted the long-term cognitive damage that comes with sniffing solvents.

The judge accepted a joint Crown-defence recommendation of a one-year sentence for George.

At the end of the hearing, George asked if he could speak to his lawyer about his release date, with the judge estimated would be sometime in November.

George was charged with theft under $5,000 on Nov. 15, according to court records.