Another person charged at Sask. private school at the centre of multiple abuse allegations

Another person affiliated with a Saskatoon Christian school embroiled in legal trouble over multiple allegations of abuse has been charged with assault.

In a news release on Tuesday afternoon, Saskatoon police said a 44-year-old woman affiliated with the Legacy Christian Academy — now Valour Academy — turned herself in on Monday to face a charge of assault with a weapon.

According to police, the new charges stem from a report they received in June of a recent assault at the faith-based private school at the centre of a $25 million lawsuit claiming a history of abuse.

In June, the Ministry of Education told CTV News it was aware of recent allegations that a staff member at the school assaulted a young student, and said it was conducting its own investigation.

Roughly two dozen officials from the former Legacy Christian Academy and its affiliated Mile Two Church are named in a $25 million class action lawsuit launched by former students who allege they were subject to physical, psychological and sexual abuse at school.

The allegations in the lawsuit have yet to be tested in court.

In January, the school’s former athletic director Aaron Benneweis was sentenced to two years less a day for sexually assaulting a student when she was between 13 and 16-years-old.

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Three other former staff members, including a past principal of the school, are also facing criminal charges.

In the past, school officials embraced the idea of using paddles to administer discipline to students.

In a letter to the ministry obtained by CTV News in April, a former vice-principal announced Legacy Christian Academy would be closing by June 30, as the swirling legal issues had made it difficult to recruit new students.

At that time, the ministry confirmed the Mile Two Church-affiliated Westdale Christian School would be relocating to the facility currently occupied by Legacy Christian Academy. The school was later rebranded as Valour Academy.

The transfer to Westdale didn’t quite represent a transformation for the school — the new operator Westdale is an offshoot of City Centre Church, which was opened by former Mile Two Church elder James Randall.

According to an internal Mile Two Church document, shared with CTV News last year, Randall was called back to help manage the church in June 2023 after its pastor Brien Johnson stepped down.

Johnson’s father, Keith, was the pastor and head of the school when much of the abuse allegedly took place.

Both Keith Johnson and Randall are named defendants in the civil lawsuit. Johnson has not been located since the lawsuit launched, but he is believed to be in Texas.

In its final year before rebranding, Legacy received $759,825 in funding for the 2023 - 24 school year, "provided at a rate of 50 per cent of the per-student average based on the number of students in their school,” according to the Ministry of Education.