Second assault trial rescheduled for former Christian school director

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/crime/second-assault-trial-rescheduled-for-former-christian-school-director

A second assault trial scheduled to begin this month for the former director of a long-standing private Christian school in Saskatoon’s north end has been adjourned to December.

The Crown confirmed that John Olubobokun’s lawyer requested the trial — which was set for April 23 — be held after the conclusion of Olubobokun’s ongoing assault trial in Saskatoon provincial court.

The request was granted, and the second trial is now scheduled for Dec. 2.

In that case, Olubobokun, 64, is charged with five counts of assault with a weapon. He’s accused of hitting former students with a wooden paddle at the school, which was called Christian Centre Academy when he was director between 2003 and 2007.

Olubobokun is jointly charged with Duff Arthur Friesen, the school’s former principal. Friesen was charged in 2023 with 11 counts of assault with a weapon after turning himself in to police.

His jury trial is scheduled for May 12 at Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench. Defence lawyer Daniel Mol has requested a publication ban on the entire trial, including the verdict, until his second trial (scheduled for September) is concluded.

A decision on the publication-ban request is pending.

The former administrators were charged with historical offences after former students started filing criminal complaints in 2021 and 2022.

The school, which was named Legacy Christian Academy at the time, had been at the centre of assault and sexual assault allegations after a $25-million class action lawsuit was filed in 2022. It alleges the school and its adjoining church perpetrated and allowed the spanking of students, fondling of minors by church staff, and other physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

Closing arguments in Olubobokun’s first assault trial, which began last June, are scheduled for Friday.

He faces nine counts of assault with a weapon. Former students testified that Olubobokun paddled them as a form of “scriptural punishment” for various allegations of disobedience, including watching secular movies and not completing homework, when they were teenagers.

Olubobokun testified when the trial resumed in March. He denied using a paddle on any of the students, saying the school had stopped using corporal punishment after a Supreme Court ruling came out in 2003.