Jury finds former principal guilty of assaulting students with weapon

CRIME Jury finds former principal guilty of assaulting students with weapon By Grace Miller Global News Posted September 18, 2026 9:38 pm Updated September 18, 2026 10:04 pm 2 min read RELATED: A Saskatoon Christian school’s former principal Duff Friesen has begun his second trial for assault with a weapon at then Christian Centre Academy, now Valour Academy – Sep 9, 2026 LEAVE A COMMENT SHARE THIS ITEM ON FACEBOOK SHARE THIS ITEM ON X SEND THIS PAGE TO SOMEONE VIA EMAIL SEE MORE SHARING OPTIONS DESCREASE ARTICLE FONT SIZE INCREASE ARTICLE FONT SIZE A jury has found former Saskatoon Christian school principal Duff Arthur Friesen guilty on three counts of assault with a weapon involving former students and not guilty on two others. The jury found the offences in the three counts occurred between September 1997 and June 2007 and that Friesen intentionally applied force with a weapon to the victims without their consent. Defence lawyer Daniel Mol told jurors Thursday it would be “unsafe” to convict his client based on the accounts of the five witnesses, arguing some memories may have been influenced by people outside the case, including through a separate class-action lawsuit launched by former students against the school. Judge Daryl Labach reviewed the evidence and the students’ testimony with jurors before they began deliberations. 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, now known as Valour Academy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT Labach noted the school’s policy of physically punishing students and heard testimony that the paddles used for discipline were handmade by a member of the church. Get daily Montreal news Get daily Montreal news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories. SIGN UP FOR DAILY MONTREAL NEWSLETTER GET STARTED BY PROVIDING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO GLOBAL NEWS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY. He noted testimony that students were paddled for missing punctuation or misspelling words in their schoolwork. Labach also relayed testimony from a former student who said he did not view spanking by his parents as abusive, but considered Friesen’s actions abusive because of the severity of the blows. Several past coworkers of Friesen testified in support of Friesen, including former administrative assistant Louis Brunelle. Brunelle testified the…