A Morris County, New Jersey, jury on Wednesday awarded $5 million in compensatory damages to a former student who said he was sexually assaulted by a monk at the Delbarton School, an all-boys Catholic preparatory school, about 50 years ago.
The panel delivered the decision after less than two days of deliberation.
While the judge had already sealed public remarks from both sides during the trial, the court ruled that the former student, identified only by the initials T.M., was assaulted and entitled to damages.
The next phase, scheduled for Tuesday, will determine whether punitive damages will be imposed.
The verdict marks the end of the first civil trial against a Catholic Church–affiliated institution in the Garden State over clergy abuse.
Though the Rev. Richard Lott was found liable for 35% of the compensatory award, the remaining $3.25 million was apportioned to Delbarton School and its affiliated monastery, St. Mary's Abbey.
However, the jury also concluded that Delbarton and St. Mary's Abbey did not violate the New Jersey Child Sex Abuse Act, meaning they were found not to have been aware of the abuse beforehand or to have engaged in intentional misconduct.
A pivotal piece of evidence in the case was a 2018 deposition of the late Abbot Brian Clarke, who acknowledged destroying a letter written by T.M. reporting the abuse on grounds it would harm the school's reputation.
During the trial, T.M. testified that Lott gave him alcohol at an off-campus New Year's Eve party in 1975 before assaulting him in a barn linked to the monk's residence on campus.
Lott, now 89, denied ever having sexual contact with anyone and claimed he was elsewhere at the time of the alleged assault. The jury rejected his defense.
The Delbarton School remains embroiled in litigation over sexual abuse claims made by dozens of former students against 13 monks or priests over several decades, which were initially filed in 2018. Many of those claims have been resolved through settlements or remain pending.
The litigation was enabled in part by New Jersey's Child Victims Act, which temporarily opened a window for survivors to sue under renewed civil claims.
The institution said in a statement that it was "extremely disappointed" in the verdict and contended that the damages were neither "fair nor reasonable," while signaling that its legal team is exploring appeals.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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