'Hiding behind words': Former student says Saskatoon Christian school must do more to address allegations

Another former student who alleges he was subjected to abuse at a private Saskatoon school says it's "hiding behind words."

An active investigation into Saskatoon Christian Centre Academy — now called Legacy Christian Academy — is now in the hands of a Crown prosecutor, according to Saskatoon Police Service.

Former students who spoke with CTV News allege paddling was a common practice at the school. One student said he was subjected to a "gay exorcism."

Sean Kotelmach told CTV News he was routinely paddled by teachers and forced into isolation during school hours for weeks at a time.

“There is more to it for everyone, but we only focus on that one moment that kind of stands in our memory,” he said.

“But it was a daily occurrence of manipulation, daily occurrence of guilt, gaslighting, control and manipulation.”

The school is connected to Mile Two Church.

Kotelmach said a statement issued by the school and church to CTV News and other media shows a lack of accountability.

"We are all heartbroken to learn the stories of some former students about their experiences from over 15 years ago," the statement said.

"The current staff and leadership are hearing some of these stories for the first time, and we condemn any acts of abuse that previous leaders committed."

“They're good with words and they've been hiding behind their words for many years,” Kotelmach said.

“It's time for accountability and to do something about it.”

Kotelmach said he believes some of the statement is flat out wrong.

“I'm sure that some of the stories are the first that they've heard of it, because there's so many of them,” he said.

“But it's definitely a lie that they've never heard of any of them or have completely moved on, especially with the people employed.”

Kotelmach said a culture of silence allowed the alleged abuse to continue.

“There's so many levels, so many layers of abuse that went on there and even the people who knew about the abuse and said nothing, and they're still there," he said.

"I think if you see wrong and do nothing, you're just as accountable for the wrongdoings.”

The statement also said the church has "offered numerous public and private apologies over the last seven years" as it has learned of the allegations.

Kotelmach said an apology doesn’t do anything for him and for other former students — what he’d like to see is action.

“What I'm looking for is something that they probably won't be willing to do, is to shut down the place and walk away,” he said.

“Even though they are under the impression that they are helping people, they have created a lie to the point where they believe it, and that's why they don't see the other side of this.”

Kotelmach says he and other former students believe this kind of behaviour is happening everywhere in similar institutions, and want to bring awareness to that.

“The people who were too scared to come forward are now coming forward because they know that we're all into this together,” he said.

“What was so scary is because we thought we were alone. But the more we talked about it, the more we realized there were others."