Loretta Merritt quoted in several publications as the trial begins for class-action alleging Christian private school abuse

The late headmasters of a now-defunct Christian boarding school controlled every aspect of children's lives in order to break their spirits, a lawyer representing former students suing the institution told a Toronto court on Monday.

The school made students snitch on classmates they caught "sinning," Loretta Merritt said in her opening statement at a trial for the class-action lawsuit against Grenville Christian College near Brockville, Ont.

Her clients, who lived in residence at the school between 1973 and 1997, are asking the court to find that the institution and its leadership breached their duty to care to the children in their charge.

"It involves a system of intentional acts done for the purpose of breaking the spirits of the children — and the individuality and autonomy of the children — in order to remake them in the Grenville way, meaning obedient and subjugative," she said.

To read the complete article published on CBC News, click here.

To read the complete article published on CTV News, click here.

To read the complete article published on Times Colonist, click here.