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Duff Friesen should serve a prison sentence for assaulting a student two decades ago, a crown prosecutor said at the sentencing hearing of the former director of the Academy Christian Center in Saskatoon.
Friesen's lawyer, Daniel Maul, argued for conditional release – without custody and without a criminal record – if he complies with the conditions of his release.
A Saskatoon Crown Court jury found Friesen guilty of one count of assault in May. and acquitted him of three other charges. On Friday, lawyers presented the verdict.
Crown prosecutor Cheryl Fillo asked for an eight-month prison sentence followed by two years probation.
Judge Natasha Crooks deferred her decision until December 18.
Under the court's order, there is a publication ban on any evidence from the trial, including any victim impact statements submitted for sentencing, as Friesen has a second jury trial scheduled for September 2026.
He is also charged with seven counts of assault related to his time at Christian Center Academy, which was later renamed Heritage Christian Academy and then Valor Academy. The school is closely associated with Mile Two Church, now called Meeting Church.
He is one of three men associated with the school who have been charged or convicted in the attack. Former students alleged that some school officials hit them with a wooden paddle in the early 2000s.
John Olubobokun, a former school principal, was found guilty of assaulting students with a wooden paddle and On November 20 he received 18 months in prison. serve in society.
Olubobokun's second trial is scheduled for December 2. He is charged with two counts of assault related to his time at the school.
Ken Schultz, the former principal and assistant principal of Academy Christian Center, is charged with assault with a weapon for allegedly hitting students with a wooden paddle in the early 2000s. He is also charged with sexual assault.
Schultz now has two trials scheduled: one in May 2026 and one in June 2026.
In July, a Saskatoon judge dismissed a $25 million class action lawsuit filed in 2022 against Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church. The Court of Queen's Bench judge said the plaintiffs failed to disclose previous settlement agreements with the three defendants named in the suit.
