Women, girls warned with high-risk sex offender to live in Winnipeg

Posted August 27, 2026 6:07 pm

2 min read

0:48 Convicted sex offender to be released, live in Winnipeg

Winnipeg women and girls are being cautioned about a high-risk offender who is expected to live in the city and who police say has a history of sexual and violent offences.

Desmond Jared Shane Catcheway, 37, was released from the Milner Ridge Correctional Centre in Manitoba Thursday, the Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit and Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) said in a joint community notification.

It said he has a “lengthy criminal record” and numerous breaches of court-ordered conditions.

The man was released after serving a six-month and 12-day sentence for failing to comply with a prohibition order and breach of recognizance, the news release said.

“Catcheway’s sexual offences have been exacerbated by his use of illegal drugs and intoxicants. He has a history of sexually assaulting unconscious females,” according to police.

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His first conviction, in April 2010, was for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl who was asleep, police said. Three years later, he was convicted of sexually assaulting “an unknown sleeping adult female,” according to the release.

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Catcheway has been found guilty several times since those incidents.

The 37-year-old’s lengthy criminal record, according to police, includes three counts of sexual assault, luring a person younger than 16 years old, indecent exposure to a person under 16, robbery and numerous breaches.

He was also convicted of transmitting, making available, distributing and selling sexually explicit material to a person under 16.

While in custody for those convictions, he refused to participate in required sexual offender programming, the notice said.

Police describe him as being five feet 10 inches tall and 240 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and several tattoos — including a devil and Japanese skull on his left forearm and a “Baby Emily” tattoo on the back of his neck. His right hand is also inked with bones and a skull.

Catcheway is subject to several court-imposed conditions, including that he must live at an approved address and report to Probation Services, it continued. He will also be subject to a curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and is banned from owning or possessing a cellphone.

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He is also subject to a lifetime weapons prohibition and a 20-year court order that includes five demands, including one that says he cannot attend places where people under 16 congregate, such as parks and schools.

Police said vigilante activity targeting the 37-year-old man will not be tolerated.