Three women who attended a private Saskatoon Christian school and joined the church allege they were sexually abused by a Sunday school teacher in the 1990s when they were four to seven years old. They say the alleged perpetrator, Nathan Schultz, robbed them of their innocence and forced them to live with a deep sense of guilt and shame for many years. They say they are also angry with school and church officials who appear to have known about the allegations. Schultz is one of nearly two dozen named defendants in a proposed $25 million class-action lawsuit alleging sexual abuse was committed — and covered up — by several officials at Christian Center Academy and Saskatoon Christian Center Church, known as now as Mile Two Heritage Christian Academy and Church. The women interviewed by CBC News have all gone to police with their allegations and are part of the proposed class action. The lawsuit follows a CBC News investigation into allegations against school and church officials by more than 30 students of widespread physical abuse, isolation, exorcisms and forced political campaigning. None of the allegations have been proven in court. No statement of defense has yet been filed. Schultz’s parents were “elders” with the church and are also named in the lawsuit. His father was the principal of the school when the abuse allegedly occurred. Church and school officials were notified of the alleged abuse at least three times, according to victims, parents and an email sent by an elder and obtained by CBC News. Yearbook graduation photo of Nathan Schultz. He attended Christian Center Academy and was also a Sunday school teacher. (Submitted by Caitlin Erickson) The women who came forward also say Schultz’s parents should have known about allegations of sexual abuse since they were top officials.
“I have something for you in my pocket”
Caitlin Erickson, who attended the school and church for 13 years until 2005 and is one of the plaintiffs, says Schultz sexually abused her when she was six or seven and he was 16 or 17. During children’s church on Sundays, Schultz was “always the guy who volunteered to take the girls to the bathroom,” Erickson recalled. There was an equipment room along the hallway leading to the bathroom, Erickson says. She says Schultz took her to that room three times. The first time, Schultz stood in front of the door and asked if she wanted to see what was in his pockets, Erickson says. Erickson says he refused and then let her go to the bathroom. The second time, Schultz gave her candy and said, “You’re such a good girl,” Erickson says. Then the last time, Schultz stood in front of the door for about 15 to 20 minutes, Erickson says. “He said, ‘I’ve got something for you in my pocket,’” Erickson recalled. He says he asked her to reach into his pocket, but she repeatedly said no and that she wanted to leave. “He made it very obvious that he wasn’t going to let me out of the room unless I put my hand in his pocket,” Erickson said. “He was much bigger than me and I was very afraid of him.” When he reached into his pocket, he realized he had cut her and her hand touched his penis, he says. She immediately pulled her hand away. This incident is included in the statement of claim. “After that I wouldn’t go to the bathroom when I was in church,” Erickson said. Schultz no longer works at the school or church. He did not respond to requests for comment. The CBC went to his home in Saskatoon three times but he was not there. A letter detailing the allegations was left in his mailbox. The CBC also tried to contact him several times through his parents and neighbor. Grant Scharfstein, one of the attorneys in a proposed class action lawsuit filed by former Christian Center Academy students stands in front of Caitlin Erickson, a plaintiff who attended the school until 2005. (Trevor Bothorel/CBC)
“He made it a game”
Another woman, whom CBC News agreed not to name, says Schultz sexually assaulted her in the equipment room of the building that houses the school and church. She says the incidents occurred from 1992 to 1994, when she was four to six years old and Schultz was 14 to 16 years old. A school document obtained by CBC News shows Schultz was listed as a babysitter for students. The woman says that when Schultz babysat her and her siblings at their house, he let them eat an entire container of Double Bubble gum. Looking back, she says “I feel like that was part of my grooming.” At church, Schultz would take her to the equipment room and put Life Savers candies and mints on and around his penis and make her “find it” with her hands, she says. He says it happened many times. “It seemed like he was doing it as a game. It was kind of this tempting thing that he would try to do to make it a game with the candy being the reward,” she said. Legacy Christian Academy, formerly known as Christian Center Academy, is a private Christian school that is now at the center of a class action lawsuit in which former students allege years of abuse. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC) The woman’s allegations are also included in the statement of claim.
Woman says abuse happened on parents’ property
Another former student, whose parents held high positions in the church, says Schultz sexually abused her on her parents’ property when she was about six years old and he was 17. CBC News agreed not to name her. She remembers Schultz helping with yard work on her parents’ property and sometimes staying alone with him. He narrates an incident where they were sitting in a truck. She says she put candy in his underwear “like it was a toy” and made her remove it with her hands and mouth. She remembers him using his shirt to wipe the chocolate off her face. “That’s probably one of my first memories in life and something that I had to carry around on my own,” she told CBC News.
Officials aware of alleged sexual abuse
School and church officials appear to have been aware of allegations of sexual abuse by Schultz at least three times over the years. CBC News obtained an email dated last year from an elderly man who said he was made aware “a few years ago” of allegations that Schultz had girls take candy from his penis. The elder did not respond to CBC’s request for an interview and did not elaborate on when he heard the allegations or who told him. The woman who claims she was abused in the equipment room says she told her parents about the alleged sexual abuse in 1998, when she was 10 years old. Her mother and father tell the CBC they informed a senior church official. They say his response to the news was, “My God, not another one.” Mile Two Church, formerly Saskatoon Christian Centre, is affiliated with Legacy Christian Academy, formerly Christian Center Academy, a private Christian school now at the center of a class-action lawsuit in which former students allege years of sexual and physical abuse . (Jeff Stapleton/CBC) They say the official told them another girl’s family had left the church over similar allegations and that the church was handling it. They say he told them to keep quiet so they wouldn’t interfere with what they were doing. The CBC reached out to the official several times by phone and text, but he did not respond.
Schultz left
In 1999, Schultz — then an adult — was sent to the Land of Canaan, a Bible training center just outside Big River, Sask., about 120 miles northwest of Saskatoon. CBC News spoke to two former students who attended Canaan Country, including one who was Schultz’s roommate there. They describe it as a tightly controlled environment with a strict schedule and routine that included prayer and devotions, chores and schoolwork. They say they were only allowed to watch certain television programs, were not allowed to listen to the radio and could only call their parents once a week. Schultz returned to school and church a few years later, when Erickson and the other women were teenagers. The former student who says Schultz molested her in the equipment room says she “totally lost it” when she saw he was back. “I was going back and forth between panic attacks and completely shutting down,” she said. She says Schultz tried to have a casual conversation with her at church. Caitlin Erickson was the first former student at Saskatoon Christian Center Academy, now Legacy Christian Academy, to go to police. (Travis Reddaway/CBC) Erickson recalls that his wife confided in her what allegedly happened. Erickson says she told her school counselor that Nathan allegedly molested her friend and was called into a high school office the next day. She says the official yelled at her for “spreading lies” about Schultz and his family. He then invited Schultz’s parents to the meeting, he says. Erickson also described this encounter in her police statement. She says she was told not to talk about it again and threatened to be kicked out of school if she did. He says he also had to apologize to Schultz’s parents. “Going against someone who was considered to be in a leadership position was just not the right thing to do,” Erickson said. “It was really the perfect storm for any kind of perpetrator to come in and abuse kids.” She says she was afraid to talk about her own experience because she was often called “untrustworthy” or a “bad apple” by school staff. She says she thought that sharing her friend’s experience would lead officials to take the situation more seriously – and was disappointed by the outcome. Neither the school official nor Schultz’s parents returned requests for an interview.
“What happened to us was not okay”
All three women, now in their 30s, say it took them years to process what happened to Schultz. “It shaped my whole life. It shaped my worldview. It happened in such a new, formative…
