Delbarton school victim awarded $5 million

A former student who says he was sexually abused decades ago at the elite catholic Delbarton School in New Jersey was awarded $5 million by a jury this week. 

The verdict on Wednesday came after a five-week trial in Morris County Superior Court, where the anonymous victim, T.M., claimed a monk from the Benedictine Catholic middle and high school sexually abused him on New Years Eve in 1975.

Delbarton, located in tony Morristown, where tuition is $48,725 a year, said in a statement this week that they were “extremely disappointed in the verdict in this trial.” 

In addition to expressing “genuine compassion for any victim of abuse,” Delbarton and church officials said that they “do not believe damages awarded in this case are either fair or reasonable.”

“Crucially, the jury unanimously found that St. Mary’s Abbey and Delbarton School did not violate the New Jersey Child Sex Abuse Act,” the letter written by St. Mary’s Abbot Johnathan Licari and Delbarton headmaster, Father Michael Tidd, “meaning we did not know of the alleged abuse and there was no intentional misconduct.”

The jury will reconvene next week to determine punitive damages in T.M.’s suit.

It is the first Catholic clergy sex abuse lawsuit to go to trial following a 2019 New Jersey look-back law allowing decades-old child sex abuse cases to be filed, and the first of nearly 40 pending clergy sexual abuse lawsuits against Delbarton to reach a verdict.

Those sex abuse allegations include several clergy members at the school — even a former headmaster.

Most recently, a 2021 lawsuit filed by a former student claims that he was raped and abused more than 150 times by a trio of monks as a Delbarton seventh grader in the 1970s.

“I am very proud that the victim stood his ground and decided to tell his story,” Mark Crawford, New Jersey director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told NorthJersey.com. 

“This should send a powerful message to all institutions that they must take allegations seriously,” Crawford said. “Survivors should not be afraid to stand up and tell your truth, because justice will prevail.”

A new grand jury investigation is likely to additionally examine if a former top Delbarton clergy leader, Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo — who could be the state’s next cardinal — played a role in covering up accusations that rolled in while he helped helm the school, according to state leaders, advocates and an attorney representing dozens of Delbarton accusers. 

Delbarton boasts a long list of famous alumni, including “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage, Yankees starting shortstop Anthony Volpe and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s sons.

Representatives for T.M. declined to comment.