Police issue public warning regarding release of high-risk sex offender

Winnipeg police and Manitoba RCMP are issuing a warning to the public regarding the release of a convicted sex offender.

Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit (MIHRSOU) — a joint unit between the two police forces — says 51-year-old Marcel Hank Charlette was recently released from the Headingley Correctional Centre in Manitoba after serving a sentence for assault and failure to comply with conditions of a release order.

Charlette, who also goes by Hank Marcel Caribou, Hank Charlette, Peewee, and Bald Eagle is expected to be living in Winnipeg.

Police have issued the warning to the public, as he has a history of violent offences, and it’s believed he could re-offend in a sexual and/or violent manner against all men, women, and children.

Charlette has a long history of committing violent offences.

• In 1991, he was convicted of manslaughter of a 2-year-old child, and he was also convicted of assault, after punching a woman in the face.
• In 1996, he was convicted of aggravated assault after brutally attacking, punching, and kicking a woman.
• In 2004, he was convicted of an assault on a woman.
• In 2006, he was convicted for two counts of assault, assault causing bodily harm, and other offences.
• In 2010, he was convicted of assault causing bodily harm on a woman.
• And, in May 2023, he was charged with assault and failing to comply with a release order, after assaulting a woman who was known to him and contacting her over a hundred times in a short time frame.

The MIHRSOU says Charlette’s release comes with a list of conditions, which includes daily curfews, not owning a weapon, not accessing or owning any form of pornography, no alcohol or drugs, no hairspray, gas, glue, or any other substance in a way that will make him intoxicated, and he is not allowed to attend any location that sells alcohol or drugs.

Police say vigilante activity against Charlette will not be tolerated.

If anyone has any information regarding Charlette, they are asked to contact the MIHRSOU at 431-489-8056, WPS at 204-986-6222, your local RCMP Detachment, or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.