Former Christian Center Academy principal John Olubobokun is appealing his conviction and some of his earlier convictions related to the physical education of students in the early to mid-2000s.
In July, Olubobokun was found guilty of nine counts of assaulting students with a weapon at a private Christian school in Saskatoon, which has since changed its name to Heritage and now Valor Academy.
He pleaded guilty to five more charges in December.
He was initially given an 18-month suspended sentence to be served in the community, with a further five months added following his plea in December.
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His lawyer, Ron Piche, says they are now appealing the July verdict because they believe the judge was selective about what evidence carried weight. He says Olubobokun was punished for corporal punishment used before it was banned in Canada in 2004.
“We believe the court did not adequately consider the fact that the school clearly had a policy permitting this type of corporal punishment.” Piché said, adding: “In our view, the judge was quite selective in the way she reviewed Mr Olubobokun's evidence, indeed the defense evidence as a whole, while the same scrutiny, so to speak, was not applied to the Crown's witnesses.”
He continued to say that at that time the parents agreed to this type of punishment. “We also suggest that the court did not attach much importance to the fact that the parents agreed to such a punishment.”
While Olubobokun did apologize for the consequences of his actions in the December sentencing, he is now appealing, with Piche arguing for a conditional release that would allow the charges to be removed from his criminal record.
The appeal will be heard over the next few months, with submissions from both the Crown and defense expected by the spring.
Stay tuned for more information on Olubobokun's trial and what Piche wants to review.
