Former Delbarton Student Awarded $5 Million in Sex Abuse Case Against Catholic Church
A former student at Delbarton School in New Jersey was awarded $5 million in damages yesterday after a jury found he was sexually assaulted by a monk at the elite, all-boys Catholic prep school nearly 50 years ago, marking the first civil trial verdict against the Catholic Church in New Jersey related to abuse allegations.
The jury of four women and two men reached the unanimous decision after less than two days of deliberation in Morris County Superior Court. The Rev. Richard Lott, now 89, was found liable for 35% of the compensatory damages, while Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey, the connected monastery, are responsible for the remaining $3.25 million. Delbarton School stated, “We are extremely disappointed in the verdict in this trial. We do not believe that the damages awarded are either fair or reasonable, and our legal representatives are considering all legal options.”
The case centered around allegations that Lott assaulted the former student, identified as T.M., at an off-campus party on New Year’s Eve 1975, and then again in a barn on the Delbarton grounds. Crucially, evidence presented included a 2018 deposition from the late Abbott Brian Clarke admitting he destroyed a letter from T.M. detailing the abuse “because it’s bad for the reputation of a school when there is sexual abuse associated with it.” This verdict arrives as a result of New Jersey’s Child Victims Act, which temporarily lifted statutes of limitations on abuse claims.
While the jury found the school and abbey did not intentionally conceal abuse, the case is one of 39 pending abuse claims against Delbarton. Jurors will return Tuesday to determine whether the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey should also pay punitive damages to T.M. Delbarton, which counts notable alumni like New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe and actor Peter Dinklage, previously acknowledged at least 30 abuse allegations involving 13 priests and monks dating back decades.
Officials stated the school is considering all legal options and will await the jury’s decision on punitive damages next week.
