Former Christian school director to be sentenced for assault with weapon charges

The former director of Legacy Christian Academy will be sentenced after entering an unexpected guilty plea at Saskatoon Provincial Court earlier this week.

John Olubobokun pleaded guilty to five counts of assault with a weapon, avoiding his second trial involving historical assaults involving former students that once attended the school.

Read more: 

• Former Christian school director given 18-month conditional sentence for paddling students
• Sentencing delayed for former Saskatoon Christian school director
• Former Saskatoon Christian school director found guilty of assault with a weapon

The Christian school located on Pinehouse Drive, formerly known as Christian Centre Academy, has since been renamed to Valour Academy. Its affiliated church Mile 2 Church has been renamed as Encounter Church.

Olubobokun served as the school’s former director from 2003 to 2007. Last month, he was handed an 18-month conditional sentence for hitting students who once attended the school with a wooden paddle.

Sentencing submissions were heard by the court on Thursday with Crown Prosecutor Sheryl Fillo asking for two years less a day incarceration followed by two years of probation.

Olubobokun’s lawyer Ron Piché asked for an 18-month conditional discharge that included 75 hours of community service, a curfew, and a firearm prohibition.

Judge Doug Agnew is expected to deliver the sentence Thursday afternoon.

Due to a publication ban, many details cannot be reported on to ensure Duff Arthur Friesen,  Olubobokun’s co-accused, has a fair trial in Sept. 2026.

In a separate jury trial, Friesen was found guilty of assault with a weapon for hitting a former student with a paddle while serving as the Christian school’s principal from 2003 to 2004.

Friesen is expected to receive his sentence on Dec.18 at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.

More to come…