The former director of a private Christian school in Saskatoon was convicted of nine assault positions with a weapon.
John Olubobokun was accused of using a wooden palette to hit the students when he was director of Christian Center Academy for four years since 2003. The school was then called Legacy Christian Academy, then in the Value Academy.
Judge Lisa Watson described her reasoning in a long decision on Monday afternoon in a provincial court. Watson said the crown demonstrated undoubtedly reasonable that Olubobokun assaulted the plaintiffs.
She gave detailed stories of the evidence of each victim. The former students said they were often accused of bad behavior, they called the director’s office, which leaned over a desk or chair, and hit several times with a wooden palette. Some students testified that they were bruised. One said the palette broke while they were being beaten.
Emotions rose in the courtroom on Monday. The alumni and supporters let out a loud sighs of relief when the guilt decisions were announced, then sobbed and hugged while leaving the courtroom.
“Make justice systems say this was not right, that is very validated and healing for all,” said Caitlin Erickson, a former school student.
“Very emotional … It has been a lot of time for us to wait for our day in court and that justice finally develops.”
Erickson said it is a victory for all the former students of the school, not only for those who testified.
A Saskatoon judge has found John Olubobokun, former director of Christian Center Academy in Saskatoon, guilty of the nine assault charges with a weapon. The former students say they were beaten with a palette while attending school.
The trial began in June 2024 with testimony of nine students and other witnesses of the crown, then continued in March with defense witnesses.
During the final arguments, defense lawyer Ron Piché questioned why students did not go to their parents or police officers at the time of alleged rowers and why there are no photographs of bruises.
He also pointed out a separate civil case, a collective claim of $ 25 million, which has been dismissed, suggesting that the plaintiffs had financial reasons.
There was a discussion during the closing arguments on section 43 of the Criminal Code, which says: “Each school teacher, father or person who is in the place of a father is justified in the use of force through the correction towards a student or a child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed reasonable under the circumstances.”
In 2004, a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada reduced the scope of the section, even saying that an object cannot be used. He defined the “reasonable” force like the one that would have a “transitory and insignificant” impact on the child.
The prosecutor of the Sheryl Fillo Corona previously argued that by virtue of the accusations, “with the implement to use”, there was no defense under section 43.
She said it was important that the court listened to the “unique situation” of how the school was directed and interconnected with the Church, and the consequences that students and all their families would face to speak. The school and the church are in the same building.
“These were people who were in the church almost daily, in school, in the church, in this building, almost daily,” said Fillo during his final argument.
A sentence date for Olubobokun has not been established.
