In a significant development for a long-running legal case, a former director of a private Christian school in Saskatoon has entered guilty pleas to historical assault charges, avoiding a trial that was set to begin.
Guilty Plea Entered in Provincial Court
John Olubobokun, 64, pleaded guilty to five counts of assault with a weapon during a hearing at Saskatoon Provincial Court on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. The charges stem from his time as the director of the Christian Centre Academy in the city's north end back in 2003.
Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo presented a statement of facts to the court. However, due to a publication ban intended to protect the fair trial rights of Olubobokun's co-accused, Duff Arthur Friesen, the specific details of those facts cannot be reported. Some charges against Friesen remain before the courts.
A Pattern of Assaults at the Private School
The historical charges against both men are connected to their employment at the institution, where Olubobokun served as director and Friesen as principal. The school has since been renamed and is currently known as Valour Academy. It maintains an affiliation with Encounter Church, which was previously called Saskatoon Christian Centre and Mile Two Church.
This guilty plea comes on the heels of another recent conviction for Olubobokun. He was recently given an 18-month conditional sentence after being convicted of nine separate counts of assault with a weapon. Those convictions were for hitting students with a wooden paddle between 2003 and 2007, an act he described as a form of "scriptural punishment."
Co-Accused Also Facing Consequences
The case involving the former principal, Duff Arthur Friesen, has also seen legal action. In May of this year, a Saskatoon Court of King's Bench jury found Friesen, 67, guilty of one count of assault with a weapon and not guilty on three additional counts. He is currently awaiting sentencing. The evidence presented at Friesen's trial is also protected by a publication ban.
John Olubobokun is scheduled to return to court on Thursday for submissions related to his sentencing on the five new guilty pleas. The outcome will add another chapter to a case that has shed light on disciplinary practices at a private Saskatoon institution from two decades ago.
