Saskatchewan appeal court revives abuse lawsuit against Legacy Christian Academy

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleging physical, emotional and sexual abuse at a Saskatoon Christian school has been reinstated by Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal.

Saskatchewan appeal court revives abuse lawsuit against Legacy Christian Academy

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleging systematic abuse at a private Christian school in Saskatoon will proceed, after Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal overturned a lower court's dismissal of the case. Google News CA — Crime (EN) reports that the three-judge panel issued its ruling on Tuesday, finding in favour of former students who had appealed the 2025 dismissal.

The lawsuit names Mile Two Church — now operating as Encounter Church — the provincial government, and nearly two dozen individuals connected to Christian Centre Academy, later renamed Legacy Christian Academy and then Valour Academy. The statement of claim alleges students were physically, emotionally and sexually abused, including severe beatings with large wooden paddles, exorcisms and solitary confinement.

The case had been dismissed by Queen's Bench Justice Rochelle Wempe, who ruled that an abuse of process had occurred. Her reasoning centred on the fact that the remaining defendants were not immediately notified when settlement agreements were reached with three other named defendants in late 2023 and early 2024. Those three settling defendants made no payments and agreed to co-operate with the plaintiffs — a situation Wempe characterised as effectively switching sides.

Appeal court finds no prejudice to defendants

Chief Justice Robert Leurer, writing for the panel with justices Jerome Tholl and Keith Kilback concurring, rejected that reasoning. The court found "no evidence" that the integrity of the court process had been compromised or that the remaining defendants had suffered any prejudice as a result of the delayed disclosure.

"For these reasons, an abuse of process did not occur. Accordingly, the plaintiffs' appeal must be allowed, and they should be permitted to proceed with their action," Leurer wrote.

Leurer identified Wempe's "first error in principle" as concluding that abuse of process automatically occurs whenever a partial settlement is not immediately disclosed. The proper test, he wrote, requires a judge to assess whether the plaintiff's conduct has "undermined the integrity of the judicial process" or "otherwise caused some other form of prejudice." In this case, it had not.

Leurer also noted that the Ontario case law Wempe had relied upon to support immediate disclosure has since been overturned. Citing the updated Ontario appeal ruling, he wrote that a permanent stay based on abuse of process is only justified where unfairness to the defendant or the court process "is so egregious that it outweighs the interest in allowing the case to proceed." The panel overturned the stay and ordered the defendants to pay court costs to the plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs welcome ruling after "unnecessary delay"

Caitlin Erickson, one of the plaintiffs in the proposed class action, welcomed the decision. "We never doubted that this case belonged before the courts," she said. "Although this decision comes after a disappointing and unnecessary delay, due process has now prevailed."

Grant Scharfstein, the lawyer representing the former students, described the outcome as expected. "We were pretty confident that an appeal should and would be successful, and we were right in that regard," he said. Lawyers for Mile Two Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Next steps: certification hearing expected in 2027

Scharfstein said an application to provide more particulars to the defendants must first be heard, with a date likely to be set within the next few months. Following that, a certification hearing will determine whether the lawsuit can formally proceed as a class action.

"We filed most of all of our material required for the certification application, including expert opinion reports," Scharfstein said. He expects the certification hearing to take place sometime in 2027.

Criminal proceedings already underway

Several former staff members at the school have already faced criminal charges, largely related to allegations that students were struck with a wooden paddle. John Olubobokun, a former director, was convicted of assaulting more than a dozen students. Duff Friesen, a former principal, was convicted on one of four counts of assault and has another trial scheduled next month. Ken Schultz, another former director, has two upcoming trials. Lawyers for the convicted men have indicated they intend to file appeals.

Aaron Benneweis, a former athletic director, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was sentenced to two years less a day in jail, plus three years of probation.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)