Sask. mother says gym teacher at private Christian school hit her 7-year-old in the head with a relay baton

A gym teacher at a private Christian school in Saskatoon has been charged. Terra MacEwan, 44, is charged with assault with a weapon.

A Saskatoon mother who spoke with CTV News says her autistic son was MacEwan's victim.

On May 16, the Grade 2 student came home from Legacy Christian Academy complaining about head pain.

When asked what happened, her seven-year-old said he was hit with a relay baton in gym class because he wasn't listening.

"He just had this look of fear in his eyes. You could tell he was telling the truth. He was genuinely scared," the mother said.

CTV News is not naming the mother to protect the identity of her child.

She said her son had "a sizeable goose egg on his head."

"He said, 'Mommy, I don't want to go back to that school. And I said, 'You're never going to have to step foot in that school again' — and I've kept that promise."

The mother said the school principal addressed the issue with MacEwan, but the gym teacher claimed she only "tapped the child" and wasn't being aggressive.

The principal offered to organize a meeting with the parents and child, but the mother declined.

"There's no way I'm bringing him back in there and re-traumatizing him ... I just went to police," the mother said.

In June, Saskatoon police launched an investigation. On Sept. 16 MacEwan turned herself in.

The mother said she's happy to see her son's gym teacher charged.

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"My son was in the car when the officer called me ... It was very validating. It just felt like we did our part, and it was very satisfying that the police did theirs," she said.

MacEwan is the fifth Legacy Christian Academy staff member facing criminal charges. CTV News has contacted the school for comment on the charge and is awaiting a response.

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 civil lawsuit have yet to be tested in court.

 

Mother witnesses history of abuse at the private Christian school

"I never wanted my kids to go through anything that I went through as a kid," the victim’s mother said.

She was "born into the church" and attended Legacy Christian Academy — then called Christian Centre Academy — from kindergarten to Grade 12.

"I began being sexually assaulted at the age of seven. I was too terrified to tell anyone," the woman told CTV News.

She says spanking was part of the school culture. She recalls a teacher taking her into the hockey room to get hit.

"You just pretended it didn't happen, or they hugged you and prayed with you, and you said sorry, and you moved on. You were supposed to forget it," she explained.

"I think somehow my brain thought the silence would just end the violence, but it didn't. It created a safe space for them to keep doing it because nobody said anything."

She said she put her two children in the school because she thought it had changed from when she was a student.

"It seemed like it was all in the past. They changed the school name. They changed the church name. There was a lot of change," the mother said.

This year, the school announced its latest name change — Valour Christian Academy.

The woman's two kids have been pulled out of the private school and have been enrolled at a Catholic school.

MacEwan is scheduled to make her first court appearance on Sept. 25 at Saskatoon Provincial Court.

The mother said friends and family plan to attend court, wearing blue or clothing with Pokémon to show support for her son.  

"I just wonder how many other kids are going through that and don't say anything. So that's why I'm coming forward with what happened with my son, and myself, because I just want it to stop."