'It's shaped my whole life': Former students of Sask. Christian school allege teacher sexually abused them
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Three women who attended a private Saskatoon Christian school and attached church allege they were sexually abused by a Sunday school teacher in the '90s when they were four to seven years old.
They say the alleged abuser, Nathan Schultz, stole their innocence and forced them to live with a deep sense of guilt and shame for many years. They say they're also angry at school and church officials who appear to have known about the allegations.
Schultz is one of nearly two dozen named defendants in a $25-million proposed class action lawsuit, which claims sexual abuse was perpetrated — and covered up — by multiple officials at Christian Centre Academy and Saskatoon Christian Centre church, now known as Legacy Christian Academy and Mile Two Church.
The women who CBC News interviewed have all gone to police with their allegations and are part of the proposed class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed following a CBC News investigation into allegations against school and church officials by more than 30 students of widespread physical abuse, solitary confinement, exorcisms and forced political campaigning.
None of the allegations have been proven in court. A statement of defence has yet to be filed.
Schultz's parents were "elders" with the church and are also named in the lawsuit. His father was the director of the school when the abuse allegedly occurred.
Church and school officials were informed of the alleged abuse at least three times, according to victims, parents and an email sent from an elder and obtained by CBC News.
The women who are coming forward also say Schultz's parents ought to have known about sexual abuse allegations, given that they were top officials.
Caitlin Erickson, who attended the school and church for 13 years until 2005 and is one of the lawsuit plaintiffs, says Schultz sexually abused her when she was six or seven years old and he was 16 or 17.
During children's church on Sundays, Schultz was "always the guy that would volunteer to take the girls to the bathroom," Erickson recalls.
There was an equipment room along the hallway that went to the bathroom, Erickson says.
She says Schultz took her to that room three times.
An RCMP-led corruption investigation is underway into at least one current Calgary city councillor as well as a business, CBC News has learned.
Much of Newfoundland is digging out of a blustery and messy day as another storm slams into the island.
Timiskaming—Cochrane MPP John Vanthof recalls the meeting in Thunder Bay earlier this month. He was part of the nine-day road trip along Highways 11 and 17 with other NDP MPPs.
A bill before the Nova Scotia Legislature is proposing raising the age limit for support for young people who have been in the foster care or group home system to 26.
The Fredericton Police Force has reallocated funds so new staff can be hired this year to better manage evidence after a police error upended murder cases against five people.
One of two pilots killed in a plane crash at New York's LaGuardia Airport Sunday earned his wings at an Ontario college, CBC News has learned.
Air Canada passengers who were aboard Flight 8646 when the CRJ-900 aircraft struck a fire truck upon landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Sunday evening say the collision was sudden and forceful, and they may owe their lives to the pilots who died in the incident.
Cardiac services are set to expand at a Winnipeg hospital once regarded as one of the best in Canada for heart care.
A 26-second TikTok video has ignited a larger conversation about vulnerable populations, theft and content creation.
Some family doctors and emergency room physicians working in Edmonton hospitals warn that an April 1 end to stipend pay arrangements could put patient care at risk and increase suffering.
An Auditor General of Canada report has found that B.C. saw drastically fewer international students than was forecast ever since wide-ranging federal immigration cuts began in 2024.
Six years after e-learning became a mandatory requirement to get an Ontario high school diploma, students don't appear to be taking online school to diversify their course selection as the province had intended, according to a CBC News analysis of provincial enrolment data.
Sarnia City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday morning to respond to social media comments made by Coun. Bill Dennis, who criticized city spending on a new mural by Indigenous artist Kennady Osborne as “virtue signalling by woke politicians” — then made a series of comments in response to a reply from Aamjiwnaang Chief Janelle Nahmabin that some have characterized as unprofessional and aggressive.