Manitoba

High-risk sex offender found by Winnipeg police

A high-risk sex offender is back in police custody.

Winston George Thomas has been in and out of jail numerous times since 2010

Winston George Thomas is designated a high-risk sex offender with a long history of being released from jail and re-arrested for breaching his conditions. (Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit)

A high-risk sex offender wanted by police is back behind bars.

Winnipeg police said Saturday morning Winston George Thomas was back in custody. 

Thomas 39, is designated a high-risk sex offender and has been in and out of the Headingley Correctional Centre several times since 2010.

He was most recently released on March 24 and was living in Winnipeg, but was wanted for failing to comply with court orders prior to Saturday.

Thomas has a history of sexual and violent offences, and though he participated in some treatment programming in the past, he is still considered a high risk to re-offend in a sexual and/or sexually violent manner, according to the Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit. 

The unit said all females, both adults and children, are at risk when he is in the community.

Authorities with the sex offender unit put out news releases about Thomas in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, but his arrests go back to 2003.

His last arrest, in 2015, was for assaulting a peace officer and breaching probation.

An officer from the Canadian Pacific Police Service suffered minor injuries during that arrest, police said, when he found Thomas intoxicated and trespassing in the Canadian Pacific railway yard near the Arlington Street bridge. During a struggle, the officer fell onto the tracks.

Thomas eventually escaped by climbing under a train and ran away. He was located a short time later and served a sentence of 18 months.

The sex assault charges against Thomas date back to 2003, when he was convicted of breaking into a woman's house and sexually assaulting her.

He was convicted again in 2006 of sexual assault against another woman, and then again in 2008 of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.