Deluca Recalls Simulated Sex, by Sean O'Sullivan, News Journal, October 28, 2010

Deluca Recalls Simulated Sex

By Sean O'Sullivan
News Journal
October 28, 2010

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101028/NEWS01/10280326/DeLuca-recalls--simulated-sex-

Francis DeLuca was not in court Wednesday. He has no attorney and is not expected to attend the trial.

DOVER -- A jury hearing the priest abuse case brought by John M. Vai, and the public at large, Wednesday got its first chance to hear from defrocked priest and convicted pedophile Francis DeLuca.

Appearing on video taken during depositions in February 2008 and April 2009, much of which was under seal until Wednesday, DeLuca acknowledged he "simulated sex" with plaintiff John Vai -- among others -- when Vai was a teenage altar boy at St. Elizabeth's Roman Catholic Church in the late 1960s.

Vai's lawsuit is the first of a handful of priest abuse cases that a U.S. bankruptcy judge allowed to go forward in state court while bankruptcy proceedings involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington are continuing. The diocese was removed from the Vai case as a defendant.

DeLuca is not represented at the proceedings, was not in court Wednesday and is not expected to attend. His former attorney told the court that DeLuca is suffering from health issues and depression related to his legal troubles. Vai also did not attend Wednesday.

On the video, which cuts between four different deposition sessions, DeLuca at times appeared grandfatherly, with glasses and thinning, graying hair, in stark contrast to the descriptions of him as the "embodiment of evil" by attorneys for both sides in opening statements.

DeLuca often joked with unseen attorneys and flashed the charm many said he possessed, stating that he lived in "Syracuse, N.Y., also known as 'Snowacuse.' "

He also frequently smiled during questioning, fondly recalling things like trips to the beach with young boys from St. Elizabeth's -- trips he acknowledged involved sexual abuse. Handed one picture showing himself and several boys at the beach he remarked, "Gee, I had a nice tan."

Only occasionally did he appear to show what may have been flashes of regret, but he never expressed remorse or apologized and usually maintained a businesslike and professorial tone, with short admissions such as, "Correct."

At one point, DeLuca is asked why he violated his vow of chastity and why he picked on young boys, never girls. DeLuca shook his head as he answered, "I have no idea. We are still trying to find out why."

He said he may have selected some boys for attention because they regularly hung out at the church and lived in neighborhoods next to St. Elizabeth's. "Proximity," he said, recalling later how he was often invited by their parents to dine at the homes of the children he abused.

Jurors also heard depositions from two former Wilmington bishops -- including Bishop Michael Saltarelli in a video taken before his death -- that it was an unwritten rule that no visitors including children were allowed in the bedroom of a priest. DeLuca said he was never told that.

"I assumed you could bring guests," he said, acknowledging he had Vai sleep over in his bed one night at the priests' house and likely abused him on that occasion. He also said no one at St. Elizabeth's ever cautioned him not to take young boys on trips without a chaperone.

At times DeLuca appeared to have an encyclopedic memory of people, places and events, while at other times, particularly when it came to details of the abuse, he claimed to not remember, including things like the first time he sexually abused a boy.

And while Vai and other plaintiffs have alleged a variety of sexual assaults, DeLuca only admitted "simulated" sex and claimed he and his victims were fully clothed during the encounters.

Testimony in the case before Superior Court President Judge James T. Vaughn Jr. resumes Monday.

Contact Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or sosullivan@delawareonline.com.