Ottawa is once again at the centre of a debate over how police handle high-risk offenders living in the community, after officers warned the public not to confront a man who recently moved into the downtown core.
Ottawa police issued a public safety notification on Friday, August 21, 2026, identifying Aaron Gilpin, 35, as a high-risk violent sexual offender who had relocated from Smiths Falls to downtown Ottawa. His criminal history, according to the notification, includes a sexual offence involving a child, assaults, weapons offences, disarming a police officer, break and enters, and thefts. The force's High-Risk Offender Management Unit said Gilpin poses a significant risk to public safety based on that history of violent and sexual offending.
Why police released the information
The notification was issued under Ontario Regulation 412/23 of the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, which allows police to disclose information about an individual when there are reasonable grounds to believe they pose a significant risk of harm. Gilpin is described in the notification as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, with a medium build and hazel eyes.
Police have told the public not to approach Gilpin directly. Anyone with concerns is asked to contact the High-Risk Offender Management Unit at 613-236-1222, extension 4395, or call 911 in an emergency.
Videos show confrontations
Despite that warning, the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre says it is aware of videos circulating on social media that show members of the public confronting Gilpin in person. The videos have fuelled a wider conversation about what happens when police make this kind of notification public, and whether it helps or hurts community safety.
Criminal defence lawyer Michael Spratt said releasing information like this makes it very hard for an individual to be rehabilitated. His comment reflects a tension at the heart of these notifications: they are meant to protect the public, but can also make it harder for someone to safely reintegrate once they've served their sentence.
Ezioma Emejuaiwe, executive director of the Sexual Assault Support Centre, offered a different angle, saying the community should also want to know what access Gilpin has to the help he may need. As much as people want to know he's living nearby, she said, there's also value in knowing what supports and supervision are actually in place.
Why he left Smiths Falls
Brett Lacey, a crime intelligence analyst with Smiths Falls police, said Gilpin voluntarily chose to leave Smiths Falls.
What happens next
No further details on supervision conditions, support access, or whether charges could follow from the confrontations caught on video have been released. Police have not said whether the videos are under investigation. For now, the message from Ottawa police remains the same: don't approach Gilpin, and report concerns through the High-Risk Offender Management Unit rather than acting on them directly.
Sources: Ottawa Police Service, Yahoo News Canada, Yahoo News Canada
