Latest news with #LegacyChristianAcademy
Global News
22-07-2025
- Global News
Former Saskatoon Christian school leader found guilty of assaulting students
A former director of Christian Centre Academy in Saskatoon has been convicted of assaulting multiple students over several years. John Olubobokun was found guilty on all nine counts of assault with a weapon in provincial court on Monday. For former student Caitlin Erickson, the guilty verdict is a long-awaited moment of justice. 'It was just very emotional to hear the judge validate everything that happened,' Erickson said. 'This was the first time to actually have a judge sit there and just be like, this was not OK, and this was abuse.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The assaults occurred during Olubobokun's tenure as the school's director from 2003 to 2007. Charges were not filed until 2023, when several former students came forward, sharing accounts of being struck with a wooden cricket bat-like paddle while attending the private Christian school. Story continues below advertisement Erickson, who was among those who came forward, believes the school's multiple name changes over the years, including to Legacy Christian Academy and now Valour Academy, were attempts to distance the institution from the allegations. However, she remains hopeful that accountability will ultimately be taken. 'This is one person, but there was a lot of people… the school leadership, the church leadership that knew what this man was doing,' Erickson said. 'Some of them facilitated or were party to it as well.' While Olubobokun's conviction is seen as a victory, Erickson emphasized that this is just one step in a much larger fight for justice. She and other former students continue to press forward with additional criminal trials still to come, as well as an appeal of a judge's dismissal of a class-action lawsuit filed back in June. 'We're just gonna continue down this path of just showing up for court, continuing to be there, continuing to have the strength to testify against these people,' Erickson said. 'We'll continue to see this process through.' Olubobokun will be sentenced later this month.
CBC
22-07-2025
- CBC
Former Saskatoon Christian school director found guilty of assaulting students with a weapon
Social Sharing The former director of a Saskatoon private Christian school has been found guilty on nine counts of assault with a weapon. John Olubobokun was accused of using a wooden paddle to hit students when he was the director at Christian Centre Academy for four years starting in 2003. The school was later renamed Legacy Christian Academy, then Valour Academy. Judge Lisa Watson outlined her reasoning in a lengthy decision Monday afternoon in provincial court. Watson said the Crown proved without a reasonable doubt that Olubobokun assaulted the complainants. She gave detailed accounts of each victim's evidence. Former students said they were often accused of misbehaviour, called into the director's office, told to bend over a desk or chair, and struck multiple times with a wooden paddle. Some students testified they were left bruised. One said the paddle broke while they were being struck. Emotions ran high in the courtroom Monday. Former students and supporters let out loud sighs of relief when the guilty decisions were announced, then sobbed and held each other as they walked out of the courtroom. "To have the justice systems say this wasn't OK, that's very validating and healing for everybody," said Caitlin Erickson, a former student at the school. "Very emotional ... it's been a very long time for us to wait to have our day in court and for justice to play out finally." Erickson said it's a win for all former students of the school, not just those who testified. WATCH | Former Saskatoon Christian school director found guilty of assaulting students: The trial began in June 2024 with testimony from nine students and other Crown witnesses, then continued in March with defence witnesses. During closing arguments, defence lawyer Ron Piché questioned why the students didn't go to their parents or police at the time of the alleged paddlings and why there are no photographs of bruising. He also pointed to a separate civil case, a $25-million class action lawsuit, which has been dismissed, suggesting the complainants had financial motives. There was discussion during closing arguments about Section 43 of the Criminal Code, which reads, "Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances." In 2004, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling narrowed the scope of the section, including by saying an object cannot be used. It defined "reasonable" force as that which would have a "transitory and trifling" impact on the child. Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo previously argued that by virtue of the allegations, "with the implement being used," there was no defence under Section 43. She said it was important for the court to hear about the "unique situation" of how the school was run and interconnected with the church, and the consequences students and their entire families would face for speaking out. The school and the church are in the same building. "These were people that were at the church almost daily — at the school, at the church, at this building, almost daily," Fillo said during her closing argument. A sentencing date for Olubobokun has not been set.
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Saskatoon judge dismisses $25M lawsuit against Christian school, church
A Saskatoon Court of King's Bench judge has dismissed a $25-million class action lawsuit against Mile Two Church and its associated private Christian school. Justice Rochelle Wempe dismissed the civil suit in a written decision on June 3. When the lawsuit was launched in August 2022, it named 22 defendants and alleged systemic abuse of students at the church and school — formerly known as Legacy Christian Academy. Wempe ruled there was 'abuse of process.' In her decision, she said the plaintiffs failed to 'immediately' disclose settlement agreements with three defendants. According to Wempe, plaintiffs settled with Stephanie Case in November of 2023, and Fran Thevenot and Tracy Johnson in February of 2024. Claims against four other named defendants were also dropped. Wempe wrote defendants were informed about the settlement agreements five months after Case signed and two months after Thevenot and Johnson signed. She noted they were only made aware of the settlements because Mile Two's lawyers made 'repeated requests for information from plaintiffs.' She said the settlement agreements 'significantly' altered the litigation landscape. Wempe said the terms of agreement stated the settling defendants would provide testimony and affidavits and would not take any formal 'adversarial position against the plaintiffs.' 'The settlement agreements had the effect of them switching sides and cooperating with the plaintiffs,' Wempe wrote. The plaintiffs, represented by Scharfstein Law, argued Mile Two and the other defendants were not hurt by the failure to disclose the settlements. Wempe says no prejudice is required for the immediate disclosure rule to come into effect. The plaintiffs also argued that dismissing the lawsuit would be 'unfair and unjust' because there is no case law indicating that the immediate disclosure rule applies in Saskatchewan. 'While I have some sympathy for this argument, I note that there is significant case law from three provinces dating back to 2009 which has clearly set out the immediate disclosure rule in civil proceedings,' Wempe wrote. The plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal on Monday. The appeal argues Wempe erred in determining that the immediate disclosure rule for settlement agreements applies in Saskatchewan. The appeal also argues Wempe erred in determining that the legal test for abuse of process could be met without finding prejudice. 'Our clients were extremely disappointed in this decision, and we're going to push forward with the claim,' lawyer Grant Scharfstein told CTV News. Scharfstein said he's hoping the appeal will be heard by fall. CTV News reached out to the lawyers representing Mile Two Church Inc., but did not get a response by publishing time.
CBC
09-06-2025
- CBC
Judge dismisses $25M lawsuit against Saskatoon Christian church, school, citing abuse of process
Social Sharing A Saskatoon judge has dismissed a $25-million class action lawsuit launched in 2022 against Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church. Court of King's Bench Justice Rochelle Wempe stayed the suit in a written decision on June 3. The original statement of claim named 22 defendants and alleged systemic abuse of students at the school and church. Wempe dismissed the claim, citing abuse of process. "The plaintiffs in this matter failed to immediately disclose settlement agreements they reached with three named defendants," she wrote. "I also find the settlement agreements changed the adversarial landscape of the litigation by causing the settling defendants to switch sides." In the judgment, Wempe wrote that former Legacy Christian staffer Stephanie Case settled in November 2023, followed by Fran Thevenot and Tracey Johnson in February 2024. In roughly the same period, claims were also dropped against four others affiliated with the school and church. The three settlement agreements were not given to the remaining defendants until five months after Case signed, and two months after Thevenot and Johnson signed, and "only disclosed after Mile Two independently learned of the discontinuances and made repeated requests for information from the plaintiffs," Wempe wrote. These were not insignificant developments, she said. "The settlement agreements had the effect of them switching sides," she wrote. "The terms of the agreements specifically provided that the settling defendants would co-operate, make themselves available to the plaintiffs and their experts, provide affidavits and sworn responses to written interrogators, attend questioning, disclosure and production of documents, attend as a witness at trial and provide testimony which does not vary from their written responses." The plaintiffs said that Mile Two and the other defendants were not hurt by the failure to disclose the settlements. Wempe wrote that is not the point. "The cases in this regard are clear — no actual prejudice is required for the immediate disclosure rule to be triggered," she said. Scharfstein Law in Saskatoon is representing the plaintiffs. Grant Scharfstein said the firm drafted an appeal on June 9 and intend to file it that day. "The Chambers Judge erred in law in determining that the immediate disclosure rule for settlement agreements applies in Saskatchewan," the appeal notice said. It also said the judge "mixed fact and law" by determining that the settlement agreements "changed entirely the litigation landscapes."
CBC
26-05-2025
- CBC
Trial of former private Christian school administrator cancelled, next steps unclear
Social Sharing A former administrator charged with assaulting students at a private Christian school in Saskatoon was scheduled to have a jury trial this week. But while the jury was told to go home and the court was expecting a guilty plea on Monday, that didn't happen. Ken Schultz, a former director and vice-principal at Christian Centre Academy, is charged with assault with a weapon for allegedly striking students with a wooden paddle in the early 2000s. He is also charged with sexual assault. Christian Centre Academy has since been renamed Legacy Christian Academy, then Valour Academy. Schultz had elected to have a jury trial, but earlier this month re-elected to have a trial by judge alone. A resolution to the case was expected to happen in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench on Monday. However, his lawyer Shea Neudorf said in court Monday that "discussions broke down" with Schultz when they were discussing "plea comprehension" — essentially, what's involved in a guilty plea — and the defence team was "not in a position to proceed." She asked Justice Krista Zerr for an adjournment until Friday. Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo told the judge she had been prepared to proceed until she was told the defence would be applying for an adjournment. The judge granted the adjournment and scheduled a conference call between herself, the lawyers and Schultz on Friday afternoon. She said the reason for holding a conference call rather a court appearance was an "attempt to avoid members of the public and interested parties attending court if the matter is not going to proceed in a substantive way on Friday." They're expected to discuss Friday whether they'll be setting a court date for an anticipated joint submission and sentencing, or whether the defence lawyers will be withdrawing and Schultz will have to find a new lawyer and set new trial dates. Schultz is not the only administrator from the school charged with hitting students with a wooden paddle. Last week, a jury found Duff Friesen, a former principal, guilty of one charge of assault with a weapon and not guilty on three others. He is awaiting sentencing. There is a publication ban on all the evidence at that trial, as Friesen has another jury trial, on seven similar charges, set for September. John Olubobokun, a former director at the school, stood trial on nine counts of assault with a weapon. The provincial court judge in his case heard closing arguments earlier this month and is scheduled to give her verdict on July 21.
