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	High Court Denies Order's Appeal in Sex Case By Beth Miller News Journal May 21, 2008 http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/805210350 The suit, filed by U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kenneth Whitwell, alleged that the Rev. Edward Smith -- a Norbertine priest who formerly was a member of the Archmere Academy faculty -- had molested him hundreds of times in the 1980s while he was a student at the school. Whitwell already has won a $41 million verdict against Smith from a federal jury and settled with the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington earlier this year for $450,000. His suit remains in Superior Court, though, against Archmere and three branches of the Norbertine order -- in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Norbertines had asked Superior Court Judge Robert B. Young to dismiss the case, claiming that the law that allowed it to be filed -- the 2007 Child Victim's Act -- was unconstitutional. The act eliminated the statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse and also opened a two-year "window," during which previously time-barred cases could be filed. In April, Young refused to dismiss the case, ruling that the new Delaware law was not unconstitutional. But last week, he sent the question to the Supreme Court because it was a question of "substantial legal right" -- due process -- and because the question was appearing in Delaware courts for the first time. The Supreme Court's decision not to review the Superior Court ruling means the case goes forward. Trial is scheduled for January 2009. Contact Beth Miller at 324-2784 or bmiller@delawareonline.com.
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