An Ontario judge sided with a group of former students who sued a Christian boarding school over abuse they suffered decades ago.

Justice Janet Leiper said Thursday that the now-defunct Grenville Christian College will have to pay yet-to-be-determined damages to the former students.

The school in Brockville, Ont., advertised itself as an Anglican institution, and had ties to an American sect called the Community of Jesus.

Former students testified during the class-action trial that they were subjected to exorcisms and physical beatings.

Lawyer representing the plaintiffs discusses what this win against the now-defunct Brockville private school means to them 7:11

Leiper says the school knowingly created an "abusive, authoritarian and rigid culture which exploited and controlled developing adolescents."

The class includes students who lived in residence between 1973 and 1997. The school was closed in 2007.