A former student testified in court Wednesday that the principal of a private Saskatoon Christian school struck him with a wooden paddle after he fell behind on schoolwork. Coy Nolin was the Crown’s first witness in the second trial of Duff Friesen, the former principal of then-called Christian Centre Academy. The school later rebranded as Legacy Christian Academy and more recently as Valour Academy. Friesen stood trial last May on four charges of assault with a weapon. He was found guilty on one charge and not guilty on the other three. He is now facing five counts of assault with a weapon in connection with allegations involving five students between 1997 and 2007. During Nolin’s testimony, he described the close connection between the school and church, as well as an unusual learning environment where students worked in cubicles facing walls and learned from booklets. He also described the school’s discipline system that started with “demerits,” which were white slips of paper students had to take home and show their parents. Nolin said receiving four demerits resulted in a “caution,” which was sent home in an envelope. He testified the next step, or the consequence for a serious offence, was “scriptural discipline,” in which students were hit on the buttocks with a paddle while a Bible verse was read to them. Nolin said that after receiving warnings for falling behind on schoolwork, he was called to the principal’s office. He said he bent over a chair while Friesen struck him three times with a wooden paddle. He said he was pushed forward by the force of the strikes and was in pain for a few days afterward. On another occasion, Nolin said he was getting ready for a basketball game after school when he was called to the principal’s office. He said he was in trouble for pushing another student into a locker, which he said he did while defending a friend. Nolin said he was facing suspension and was asked whether he wanted to return the following school year to complete his final year. He said he wanted to return. “It was my everything. The only thing I knew,” he testified when the Crown asked him why he wanted to return. Nolin said Friesen then struck him with the paddle, and they waited for the school’s director to determine the next steps. Court heard students who refused to be paddled could be expelled and Nolin testified they were told to ignore those students if they saw them in public because they were “sinful.” Nolin also testified he had confused Friesen with his predecessor when describing some earlier incidents in a 2021 statement to police. He later informed the Crown. During cross-examination, the defence pointed to contradictions between Nolin’s police statement and his testimony. The defence also pointed to Nolin being a named plaintiff in a $25-million lawsuit against the school, its associated church and others. Nolin said some details got blurred when he spoke with police. He also said he had no financial motivation to come forward. Court heard he went to police about a year before the lawsuit was launched. More witnesses are expected to testify as the trial continues.
