Judge hears sentencing arguments for former Saskatoon private Christian school principal who paddled students

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/duff-friesen-sentencing-hearing-9.7392042

Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo is asking a judge to give Duff Arthur Friesen an 18-month sentence, to be served in the community, for assaulting three former students with a wooden paddle at a private Christian school in Saskatoon.

Friesen’s defence lawyer Daniel Mol is arguing for a six- to nine-month community sentence.

Friesen, 69, was the principal of Christian Centre Academy, a private Christian school in Saskatoon. A jury convicted him of three counts of assault with a weapon and acquitted him on two others.

The school was named Christian Centre Academy at the time of the offences. It was later renamed Legacy Christian Academy and is now Valour Academy. It’s closely associated with what was Mile Two Church and is now Encounter Church.

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Fillo told Court of King’s Bench Justice Daryl Labach during a sentencing hearing on Thursday that Friesen’s moral culpability is very high.

“He was the head of this organization and the one who made the decision to be the one that did the paddling,” Fillo said in court.

Fillo said an 18-month conditional sentence takes into account how old the allegations are — roughly 20 years — and the fact Friesen has no unrelated criminal convictions.

She asked for a curfew of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. with some exceptions, no contact with the complainants or their families, a ban on alcohol and non-prescription drugs, and 100 hours of community service.

In his defence argument for six to nine months, Mol said this is not a gratuitous case where violence was done randomly and that Friesen has already faced repercussions.

“Mr. Friesen has suffered public humiliation, loss of reputation, loss of friendships, the loss of his professional status. He’s lost his teaching licence. And, of course, the loss of income at the present time,” Mol told the court. “For the past several years, he’s been working different jobs for very modest wages.”

Victim impact statements

Friesen’s victims had the opportunity to read statements to the court.

Robynne Randall said she had wanted to become a nurse, but fell behind and never finished Grade 12 due to the impact of Friesen’s abuse. Now 37, she said she is only beginning to believe she is capable.

She addressed Friesen directly, saying she had carried shame and guilt as if they belonged to her, and needed therapy to accept they were never hers to carry. She said she was giving that burden back to him.

Fillo read a statement from Jillian Kudryk, in which she wrote that Friesen was in a position of authority meant to protect her, and he used it to punish her instead. She said the school was supposed to be a safe place and became a place of fear.

Kudryk wrote that she still has nightmares about being in that school more than 20 years later.

Labach reserved his decision to Jan. 7.

What the jury found

The trial in September heard that the school and the church operated out of the same building on Pinehouse Drive.

Students were disciplined in levels — starting with demerits, cautions, and what the school called “scriptural discipline,” or paddling. The paddles were described as similar to small cricket bats, and they got bigger for older students.

Lou Brunelle, a former administrator, was pictured in a 1997 Maclean’s magazine photograph with a paddle. The photo was entered as an exhibit at Friesen’s trial.

Lou Brunelle, then an administrator at Christian Centre Academy, was photographed with a wooden paddle for a 1997 Maclean’s magazine article. A copy of the photo was entered as a defence exhibit in the assault trial of Duff Friesen on Monday. (Maclean’s)

Other cases

This is Friesen’s second time being sentenced on crimes related to his time at the school. In an earlier trial, he was accused of four counts of assault with a weapon. The jury acquitted him on three and convicted him on one. He was sentenced to six months, to be served in the community under conditions.

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Friesen is one of four men connected to the school who have been criminally charged after a group of former students came forward.

Former director John Olubobokun was convicted of nine counts of assault after one trial and pleaded guilty to five other charges before a second trial began. He received an 18-month community-based sentence after the first trial, and a five-month consecutive community sentence after the guilty pleas.

Ken Schultz, a former administrator at the school, 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. His trial is still pending.

Aaron Benneweis, a former coach and athletic director, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting and exploiting a teenage student and athlete at the private Christian school. He was sentenced to two years less a day, to be followed by three years probation.

The class-action lawsuit

Former students have also filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Mile Two Church and a long list of former employees and representatives, including Friesen, Olubobokun, Schultz and Benneweis. The claim seeks damages in excess of $25 million.

The class-action lawsuit was dismissed last year, after a judge ruled there was abuse of process because the rest of the defendants weren’t immediately notified when settlements were reached with three others.

Former students appealed the dismissal, and the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal issued a decision in their favour last month.