SaskatoonFormer Christian Centre Academy director John Olubobokun sentenced after pleading guilty to hitting several students from the private school with a wooden paddle in 2003. John Olubobokun pleaded guilty to hitting students with a wooden paddle in 2003Jeremy Warren · CBC News · Posted: Dec 04, 2025 3:03 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.John Olubobokun, a former director at Christian Centre Academy, speaks outside Saskatoon provincial court on Thursday following his sentencing on five counts of assault. (CBC News)Former Christian Centre Academy director John Olubobokun has been sentenced to serve five months in the community after admitting he hit several students from the private school with a wooden paddle in 2003.Olubobokun, 65, returned to Saskatoon provincial court Thursday afternoon to learn Judge Doug Agnew’s decision, after lawyers made their arguments earlier in the day.The sentence will be served consecutively to an 18-month conditional sentence order that Olubobokun received earlier this year on nine other assault charges, amounting to a total of 23 months served in the community.Caitlin Erickson, one of the former students, said the court process has not been easy, and the community-based sentence may not be what they wanted to see, but it has been important for the students to be heard.”[We’re] just happy to have the courts acknowledge that this was wrong and it was a criminal act,” she told media outside court. “I think that is just really powerful for anyone who has been in the same situation or attended, you know, the school, that we finally have that acknowledgment.”Christian Centre Academy was later renamed Legacy Christian Academy, then Valour Academy. The school is closely associated with Mile Two Church (now called Encounter Church), where Olubobokun also held a position as a church elder.Earlier Thursday, Olubobokun’s defence lawyer Ron Piché argued for an 18-month conditional discharge, which would have meant the convictions would not be on Olubobokun’s criminal record if he successfully followed the conditions of his sentence.Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo argued for a custodial jail sentence of two years less a day followed by two years of probation.The five-month conditional sentence Agnew imposed includes a curfew of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and 50 hours of community service. ‘Not so sure it’s over yet’Olubobokun pleaded guilty to the five charges that he was sentenced for on Thursday, but had pleaded not guilty and was convicted after a trial on the nine other charges for which he received the 18-month sentence.Piché said they are considering appealing that first conviction.”We’re not so sure it’s over yet,” he said.Olubobokun spoke in court Thursday morning after hearing victim impact statements that were read into the court record.“I’m deeply sorry to see the impact of my actions,” Olubobokun said. “I can only pray that God will grant us forgiveness.”ABOUT THE AUTHORJeremy Warren is a reporter in Saskatoon. You can reach him at jeremy.warren@cbc.ca.
Former director at Saskatoon private Christian school gets 5-month community-based sentence
