'Cast the gay demons out': Sask. private Christian school director on trial for assault

Three brothers who attended a Saskatoon private Christian School were the first to testify at the trial of the school’s former director on Monday.

John Olubobokun, a former director of Christian Centre Academy — now known as Legacy Christian Academy — is on trial for nine counts of assault with a weapon.

Olubobokun is also one of twenty-five defendants in a $25-million class-action lawsuit against the school, its affiliated church and the provincial government, suing for damages for years of alleged physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Those allegations have not yet been proven in court, but criminal charges have followed a number of the civil defendants since the lawsuit launched in 2022.

Cody Nolin was the first former student to take the stand in Olubobokun’s criminal trial on Monday.

He said he transferred to the school after his parent’s divorce, and struggled with the move from a public school to a “cubical facing a wall,” where he was “entirely self taught.”

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Cody says a majority of staff were “supervisors” and not certified teachers.

The school was known to use corporal discipline. Cody said he would sometimes wear a second pair of underwear for protection when being hit with a wooden paddle.

He said one summer he was sent in live with his dad in B.C.

“I refused to be paddled anymore, so they sent me away to live with my dad.”

During this time, court heard his family was not allowed to contact him. He said before the school year began, he returned to Saskatoon and had a meeting with Olubobokun.

He testified Olubobokun made him bend over a desk and spanked him three times with a paddle. Court heard Olubobokun accused him of “stuffing his pants,” because he did not cry from pain. Cody said the director hit him twice again, and then a youth pastor took him to the bathroom.

“He asked me to pull down my pants so he could check my underwear,” Cody Nolin testified.

He said that’s when he had a moment of clarity, walked out of the school and never returned.

Cody’s brother Cole Nolin was the second person to take the stand.

He testified Olubobokun paddled him often, and the swings “were not always accurate,” resulting in bruises on his back and legs.

Court heard there were multiple occasions where the paddle broke from the impact of hitting his body.

He said the school’s affiliated religious organization Mile Two Church sold paddles for parents and caregivers to use at home.

Coy Nolin was the third brother to testify on Monday.

Wiping away tears, Coy spoke about the time Olubobokun and other church and school staff made a home visit.

He said Olubobokun hit him with a paddle, and then the group “prayed” over him.

“He was asking god to cast the gay demons out of me. That I was a disgusting perversion and that they didn’t want me to go to hell,” Coy testified.

The Crown is expected to call 11 witness during the trial.

Olubobokun is scheduled for another trial on June 24, where he and co-accused Duff Friesen will be tried on four counts of assault with a weapon.