Duff Friesen, former Legacy Christian principal, elects jury trial on historical assault charges

The election was made Tuesday in Saskatoon provincial court for Duff Arthur Friesen. Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo said amendments to the Criminal Code state that a preliminary hearing isn’t available for an accused person if the maximum sentence at the time of the alleged offence is less than 14 years.

The Criminal Code has set the maximum sentence for assault with a weapon at 10 years.

The matter has now been moved to King’s Bench, where Friesen is scheduled for a pretrial conference on June 21.

The 65-year-old is one of four ex-administrators facing criminal charges in connection with historical abuse allegations while they taught and worked at the north end Saskatoon school, formally known as Christian Centre Academy.

Friesen pleaded not guilty to his charges in November.

He was the principal at Regent Academy in Prince Albert when he turned himself in to Saskatoon police last spring after reports were made against him in 2021 and 2022.

Postmedia has spoken with approximately a dozen students who attended the school from its inception in the mid-1980s until the early 2010s. Most alleged church and school officials had hit them on the buttocks with large, wooden paddles as a form of discipline for perceived indiscretions that included everything from talking back to a teacher to failing to tuck in a chair.

Friesen was released by consent during his first court appearance on conditions that include having no contact with a list of complainants, and not working or volunteering in any capacity with people under the age of 16.

John Olubobokun, Legacy’s former director, was also spoken to in court on Tuesday. The 63-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of assault with a weapon. His provincial court trial is still scheduled to proceed in June.

Ken R. Schultz, 75, pleaded not guilty last October to sexual assault and assault with a weapon stemming from his time as former director and vice-principal at the school between 1987 and 1993. His Saskatoon provincial court trial, which had been set for this month, was vacated after he elected to be tried by judge and jury at King’s Bench.

His jury trial is scheduled for October.

In January, Aaron Travis Benneweis, 47, was sentenced to two years less a day for sexually assaulting a student, starting when she was 13 years old, while he was a teacher and later the school’s athletic director between 2008 and 2012.

A $25-million class action lawsuit alleges Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church (formally Saskatoon Christian Centre) perpetrated and allowed the spanking of students, fondling of minors by church staff and other physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

The lawsuit seeks at least $25 million in damages or, in the alternative, at least $1 million in damages from each defendant. It also seeks an injunction that would prevent Mile Two Church from operating a school for minors, and injunctions that would prevent any of the defendants from working or serving at schools that work with minors.

The suit names 24 people and the provincial government as defendants, including former teachers and administrators.