Trial for former Saskatoon Christian school director abruptly postponed

The trial for a former staff member at a Saskatoon Christian school who is accused of striking students with a wooden paddle more than 20 years ago has been abruptly postponed.

The judge-alone trial for Ken Schultz, the former director and vice-principal of Christian Centre Academy, which was scheduled to begin Monday morning at Court of King’s Bench and run for five days, has been adjourned following a request from the defence on Friday.

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The trial is now scheduled to begin on March 8, 2027.

In January of 2024, Schultz pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault and assault with a weapon.

This is the second time a trial has been adjourned at short notice, after the original trial date in May of 2025 was also cancelled.

At that time, Shultz elected to proceed by way of jury trial, but re-elected to be tried by a judge alone.

Schultz is not the only staff member embroiled in the controversy stemming from the faith-based school in Saskatoon.

In November, John Olubobokun, the former director of Legacy Christian Academy, was found guilty of nine counts of assault with a weapon and handed an 18-month conditional sentence for paddling former students.

In December, Duff Arthur Friesen was handed a six-month conditional sentence at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench for assaulting students at the school with a wooden paddle. He was found guilty on one of four charges of assault with a weapon for an incident that occurred during his tenure at the school between 2003 and 2004.

A publication ban was imposed to prevent the media from reporting on any evidence, submissions, exhibits or victim impact statements presented during Friesen’s trial in order to protect the integrity of a separate, upcoming trial involving similar charges, which is scheduled to begin in September.

In October of 2023, Aaron Travis Benneweis, the school’s former athletic director, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a minor, and was handed a two-year sentence.

Christian Centre Academy was also known as Legacy Christian Academy, and the school has since been renamed Valour Academy. Its affiliated church, Mile Two Church, has been renamed Encounter Church.