Exorcisms, violent discipline and other abuse alleged by former students of private Saskatchewan Christian school
Sean Kotelmach, Coy Nolin, Caitlin Erickson, Cody Nolin and 14 other former students of Saskatoon's Christian Centre Academy, now called Legacy Christian Academy, allege they were subjected to exorcism, violent discipline and other abuse there.
But almost immediately after they walked into the house, the four officials from the school and adjoining Saskatoon Christian Centre church placed their hands on Coy. They began yelling, grunting and making other unintelligible sounds known as "speaking in tongues."After more than an hour, with Carilyn crying in the corner of the room, they stopped.
The complaints include frequent paddlings, many of which allegedly occurred after the Supreme Court of Canada outlawed corporal punishment by educators in early 2004.Many of the former students — and some of their parents — have agreed to tell their stories publicly for the first time to CBC News. They shared diaries, police statements and other documentation.
Officials with the adjacent Legacy Christian Academy — the name was changed from Christian Centre Academy in 2013 — initially agreed to an interview and said they'd answer all questions. The next day, they emailed a written statement and declined to answer any further questions. Most of the former students who've come forward attended between 1995 and 2010, but there is no time limit on legal complaints of this nature involving minors.
"Religion was used to torment, to discriminate. It's cruel. This is torture. Anyone with common sense knows this."CBC News has obtained an 85-page, eight-lesson manual called The Child Training Seminar, written by the father of the current pastor. Students say that, during their time at the school, it was sold in the gift shop along with bibles and a selection of hand-made wooden paddles of various sizes.
It gives detailed instruction on the types of infractions that warrant paddling, such as riding a bicycle while "forbidden." He said he was also paddled multiple times. Kotelmach said he and others would "pad" their buttocks with up to nine pairs of underwear to soften the blows. If discovered, the student would be forced to remove the underwear and punishment would increase.
In the ruling, the court limited corporal punishment to parents, and only under narrow circumstances. It must be proportional, can only be done on children between the ages of two and 12, and no implements are allowed. Caitlin Erickson shared a story about her and the rest of the senior girls' volleyball team being accused of whispering during a weekend church service in the fall of 2003.
Kelly said waivers would be useless as a defence in court. A parent cannot consent to another person applying punitive physical force on their child. "Virtually without exception, these studies found that physical punishment was associated with higher levels of aggression against parents, siblings, peers and spouses," stated the summary.
Hutchinson said when she was eight years old, she was asked to say the school prayer for the class. She was nervous and froze. She said that, for a week, the teacher kept her inside during recess. The teacher would sit Hutchinson on her lap, firmly squeeze and rock her repeatedly while speaking in tongues, Hutchinson said.
"We would welcome conversations with any students who might wish to come and revisit the school and, hopefully, find an opportunity for reconciliation," it said. Former students of the Christian Centre Academy, now called Legacy Christian Academy, say all government subsidies and tax breaks for the school and adjacent Mile Two Church must be halted until police and prosecutors have dealt with their abuse complaints and the government has conducted a full investigation of the school's current practices.
It also said the Ministry of Education "has not received any complaints regarding LCA since funding for Qualified Independent Schools began in 2012." The provincial government says it hasn't received any complaints about Christian Centre Academy, now called Legacy Christian Academy. But former students say that's not true, and provided CBC News with recent email exchanges with Education Minister Dustin Duncan's office.
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