Defendant in lawsuit alleging school abuse now in Prince Albert

By Susan McNeil

One of the defendants in a class action lawsuit involving alleged abuse at a school in Saskatoon is now working at a school in Prince Albert.

Duff Friesen is the current principal at Regent Academy, which operates out of the basement in Plaza 88.

Among other defendants, Friesen is named as a teacher and, at times, principal of what was then Christian Centre Academy in Saskatoon. The defendants list includes 21 individuals, the Mile Two Church in Saskatoon and unnamed John and Jane Does.

In the statement of claim, Friesen’s name is connected to two specific incidents.

“In response to an allegation of whispering and giggling during church service at the church in the fall of 2003, on the Monday following the alleged whispering and giggling during church service, a majority of the students on the female volleyball team were lined up in the auditorium and berated by the director, John Olubobokun, school principal Duff Friesen and coach Fran Thevenot,” reads the claim.

According to the claim, of the players, Caitlin Erickson, was then taken into a side room and struck repeatedly on the buttocks with a wooden paddle.

The lawsuit does not specify who was holding the paddle.

In the second incident that Friesen is named in, Coy Nolin also received corporal punishment.

“…when he was 11 years old, by Duff Friesen, then principal of Christian Centre Academy, who bent him over a chair and struck him hard on the buttocks three times for telling ‘inappropriate jokes,’ while Nathan Rysavy observed as a witness,” said the suit.

Other incidents of the alleged abuse at the Saskatoon school include Nolin (who has come out as gay) being sermonized to by John Olubokun while Nolin was in the hospital, being paddled for being gay, and being subjected to a purported exorcism by four of the other defendants.

The plaintiffs, Erickson and Nolin, also said that some staff and church representatives were involved in sexual relationships with students, specifically alleging that church staff member Nathan Schultz convinced female students to take candy off of his penis in the bathroom using their hand or mouth.

He would also cut the pockets out of his pants and ask the girls to reach into the pants where the pocket should have been, the claim said.

One of the defendants, Garrett Johnson, who was a youth pastor at the church and now uses the last name Davis, has publicly stated that all the allegations are true.

The province announced Thursday that it will be increasing oversight of three schools as a result of the allegations in Saskatoon. One of those schools is Regent Academy in Prince Albert, which will have unscheduled visits from the province.

The minister of education will also appoint an administrator into the three schools named. Along with Regent Academy, Legacy Christian Academy and Grace Christian School will be part of the increased monitoring.

In addition, the province will be increasing the number of unscheduled supervised visits to all independent schools for the 2022-23 school year.

“Student safety is of the utmost importance, and we take all allegations and complaints seriously,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan said in a news release. “We have taken action to ensure that all students can feel safe, protected and respected no matter what school they attend.”

The amendments that came into effect yesterday allow the Minister of Education the ability to appoint an administrator of a school, put schools on probation, and require all qualified independent schools to notify the ministry within 24 hours if there are allegations of criminal activity or a criminal charge of a staff member.

The ministry also can suspend or cancel an independent school’s certification if necessary. Upon cancellation, the school would legally no longer be able to operate.

The province said that the appointed administrator will have a Professional A teaching certificate, have a Master of Education degree and will have at least two years of school administration experience.

In 2012, the province began providing funding to qualified independent schools who meet the standards and criteria outlined in provincial regulations.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.