Former Saskatoon Christian school principal trial hears testimony

The trial for a former principal at a Saskatoon Christian school accused of striking students with a wooden paddle continued Wednesday with testimony from a former student.

Duff Arthur Friesen is facing five counts of assault with a weapon during his tenure at Christian Centre Academy from 1997 to 2007.

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The school, also formerly known as Legacy Christian Academy, has since been renamed Valour Academy. Its affiliated church, Mile Two Church, has been renamed Encounter Church.

Former student Coy Nolin testified that during the 2003-04 school year, he was struggling with his schoolwork and was brought to the principal’s office to receive “scriptural discipline.”

The court heard that the term “scriptural discipline” referred to a certain passage from the Bible and involved the use of a wooden paddle.

Nolin told the court he was instructed to put his hands down on a chair and was struck on his bottom with a wooden paddle three times.

“It was hard enough to move me forward in my chair a little bit,” he said, adding that it “hurt a lot after.”

“What part of you hurt a lot after?” asked Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo.

“My bottom and ego,” Nolin replied.

Nolin said there was no physical bruising after the incident but that he was sore for a few days afterward.

He also testified that he received “three more swats” from Friesen in a separate incident.

Nolin said he was expelled from school following the second incident.

Nolin also addressed a video statement he gave to police on Aug. 10, 2021. He told the court that after reviewing his statement, he came forward to correct inaccuracies in his account of some disciplinary incidents involving a wooden paddle.

When asked why he came forward to correct details from the statement, Nolin replied, “I wanted to make sure that the truth was being told.”

Two weeks have been set aside for Friesen’s jury trial at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.

In December 2025, following a separate trial, Friesen was given a six-month conditional sentence for assaulting a former student with a wooden paddle.

Friesen was found guilty on one of four charges of assault with a weapon for an incident during his tenure at the school between 2003 and 2004.