Jury finds former principal guilty of assaulting students with weapon
The five former students testified about the physical and emotional toll of being struck with a paddle by Friesen at what was then known as Christian Centre Academy.
A jury in Saskatoon has convicted former Christian Centre Academy principal Duff Arthur Friesen of three counts of assault with a weapon against former students. The trial concluded that Friesen intentionally struck the students with a paddle between September 1997 and June 2007, causing physical and emotional harm. The five alleged victims testified about their experiences, with one former student asserting that while he did not consider typical parental spanking abusive, Friesen's actions were more severe due to the severity of the blows.
Defense attorney Daniel Mol argued that the case was "unsafe" to convict his client based on the five witnesses' accounts, suggesting that memories could have been influenced by external factors, including a separate class-action lawsuit against the school. Judge Daryl Labach reviewed the evidence and deliberated with the jury before their verdict.
Friesen has now been convicted of four counts of assault with a weapon during his tenure at the school, with one count stemming from a previous trial. He received a six-month conditional sentence in the community for the earlier conviction.
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