Convicted sex offender pleads guilty to assaulting 9-year-old in Winnipeg school washroom

Darwin School, a kindergarten to Grade 8 school, is pictured in Winnipeg, Man., on Nov. 28, 2025. A man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a nine-year-old student inside the school last year. (Harrison Shin/CTV News Winnipeg)

A convicted sex offender has pleaded guilty to assaulting a nine-year-old girl in a washroom at a Winnipeg elementary school late last year, with prosecutors set to seek an eight-year sentence.

Scott William George entered six guilty pleas Tuesday in the Provincial Court of Manitoba, including assault, forcible confinement and four counts of breaching court orders.

George had been convicted of sexual interference in April 2023. As part of that sentence, he was placed under a 10-year prohibition order barring him from places such as public parks, school grounds, playgrounds and community centres, and from having any contact or communication with anyone under 16.

Less than a week after his release from Headingley Correctional Centre, George entered Dakota Collegiate High School through an unlocked door after hours on Nov. 20, 2025, and stole a laptop, according to an agreed statement of facts read in court.

Court heard he then returned to the high school in St. Vital on Nov. 27, but was escorted out of the building after being stopped by staff.

Once outside, George went to Darwin School, a kindergarten to Grade 8 school, where surveillance video captured him entering the west doors shortly before 1 p.m. and immediately going into the boys’ washroom.

George—then 28—exited the washroom a minute later, spoke briefly to a boy at a water fountain, returned to the washroom for another minute, then exited again and walked into the nearby girls’ washroom.

Court heard a nine-year-old student then entered the washroom after finishing a spelling test while George was inside. Surveillance video captured her sprinting out two minutes later. Court heard she ran back to her classroom and told her teacher she had been attacked in the washroom.

“Her teacher described [the girl] as ‘terrified,’” Crown prosecutor Sivananthan Sivarouban said, reading from the agreed statement of facts.

“She was crying, hyperventilating and screaming when she came into the room. She was very, very upset. She said, ‘Help, there is someone trying to grab me.’ She described being grabbed over her stomach and mouth by a man in all black in the washroom.”

Court heard the teacher and a colleague ran to the washroom but could not find the man. They spotted a man wearing all black outside and reported the incident to school administration, which joined the search and placed the school in lockdown.

The principal’s husband, who had just dropped something off, was outside and saw a “suspicious male” in the parking lot. He followed the man to the St. Vital Centre, where police arrested George in the parking lot shortly after.

In an interview with police that day, the nine-year-old said she had noticed one of the stalls was occupied when she entered, but when she left her own stall, the man was standing in the washroom and the previously occupied stall was empty.

“Immediately, the male attacked her,” read the agreed statement of facts. “The man was behind her trying to wrap himself around her. One arm went across her body, around her waist, while the other was at her mouth to stop her from screaming and to stop her from getting away.”

“She fought back—ripped his hands off her—and ran screaming to the classroom."

Court heard the forcible confinement lasted approximately one to two minutes.

When interviewed by police, George asked for the girl’s forgiveness.

“I would apologize. Forgive me, little girl. I’ll be your friend. I’ll do better next time,” he said.

When asked by provincial court Judge Stacy Cawley whether George has learning challenges, defence lawyer Wendy Martin White said, “There is a belief that there probably are some issues there,” but added, “I do have confidence he understood all of the things I have walked through with him.”

George is expected to be sentenced following the completion of a pre-sentencing report due on Aug. 4, as well as cognitive assessments.

The provincial government ordered Manitoba schools to review their safety protocols following the incident, with more than $500,000 allocated for the review at the time.