High-risk sex offender to live in Winnipeg after federal release: police - Global News

Winnipeg police are cautioning residents that a high-risk sex offender is expected to live in the city following his release from federal custody.

Douglas Wayne Bowman, 62, was convicted of uttering threats and two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, which occurred in two separate instances – one in 2010 and the other in 2013.

He is considered at a high risk of reoffending in a sexual manner against all females – especially women of a small stature who work in the sex trade, a community notification shared by the Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit said.

Bowman was released from federal custody Thursday. He was designated a dangerous offender in 2018 when he was sentenced to the equivalent of a 14-year sentence, minus credit for six years of pre-sentence custody.

The 62-year-old is described by police as being five feet six inches tall and  weighing 355 pounds. He has balding brown and grey hair and hazel eyes. He also has a scar on his right cheek and the middle of his forehead.

His prior convictions include rape, indecent assault, robbery, attempted break and enter with intent, break and enter and theft.

Bowman has participated in treatment programming but is still considered a high-risk offender, police said.

One of the conditions of his release, as dictated by the Parole Board of Canada, states that he will have to follow a treatment plan in the areas of sexual deviance, violence and emotions management, as well as participating in psychiatric treatments to address his identified cognitive needs. Those conditions also bar him from contacting victims or any girls under 18.

Bowman is also banned from communicating or being in the presence of sex workers. He will be subject to a 10-year long term supervision order and a lifetime weapons prohibition.

Winnipeg police said any vigilante activity towards the man will not be tolerated.