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	Jury Finds Delaware Parish Liable for Priest Abuse NECN December 1, 2010 http://www.necn.com/12/01/10/Jury-finds-Del-parish-liable-for-priest-/landing_politics.html?&blockID=3&apID=5bf47b72a53e45809f732669f660a67c A Roman Catholic parish in Wilmington, Del., was found liable Wednesday for a former priest's sexual abuse of a young boy in the 1960s, and the victim was awarded $30 million in damages. A jury in Dover ruled that St. Elizabeth's parish was negligent in not preventing Francis DeLuca from sexually abusing John Vai. St. Elizabeth's is responsible for $3 million of the $30 million in compensatory damages awarded to Vai. Advocates for victims of clergy abuse said the value of the compensatory damages was the largest ever awarded in such a lawsuit in the United States and that a parish had never before been found liable for abuse. "It is far and away the largest single verdict in any clergy sex abuse case for compensatory damages," said Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul, Minn., attorney who has represented more than 2,000 alleged victims. "This would be a new and unprecedented outcome that I have no doubt is much needed and well-deserved and hard-fought." The judge earlier had ruled that DeLuca, who refused to attend the trial, was liable for abusing Vai but left the jury to determine the amount of damages to assess against him. A hearing to consider punitive damages against the parish and DeLuca begins Monday. DeLuca, 80, was defrocked in 2008 after serving 60 days in a New York jail for repeatedly molesting his 18-year-old grandnephew. Vai's lawsuit is expected to be the first in a series by DeLuca's alleged victims to go to trial. In a statement, Vai thanked the jury and expressed gratitude that Delaware's legal system "can render justice to all survivors of childhood sexual abuse." "Stunning testimony is coming out which exposes to the light of day the rampant sexual abuse of innocent children," Vai said. "The cover-up continues and to this very day these churches refuse to accept responsibility for their actions." Bishop Francis Malooly of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington issued a statement apologizing to Vai for the abuse by DeLuca but said he was disappointed that the jury found St. Elizabeth's liable. "It is unfortunate that the parish community of St. Elizabeth's is being made to pay for the criminal and sinful acts of someone who was assigned by the diocesan bishop at the time to be one of their priests," Malooly said. The diocese is facing more than 100 priest abuse lawsuits and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. A bankruptcy judge allowed Vai's lawsuit to go forward with DeLuca and the parish as defendants, and DeLuca faces several more lawsuits, as do other parishes and former priests in the diocese. Vai's attorney, Thomas Neuberger, said he did not expect to be able to collect damages from DeLuca but said the parish has ample assets to be able to pay the award. Attorneys for the parish did not immediately return messages seeking comment. David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the verdict was a milestone because a jury found that culpability for abuse extended beyond a priest or his bishop. "This jury's saying no, it doesn't matter if your title is bishop or pastor. If you knowingly put kids and keep kids in harm's way, there's a steep price to be paid," Clohessy said. The Associated Press typically does not name alleged victims of sexual abuse, but Vai has spoken publicly about the allegations and testified at trial. In his statement and his testimony, Vai was highly critical of the diocese's second in command, vicar general Thomas Cini, who was his parish priest at the time of the abuse. Cini testified that he had no knowledge that DeLuca was abusing boys while working as a teacher at St. Elizabeth's, but Vai said he saw Cini in the rectory where DeLuca often abused him in his upstairs bedroom. "Cini got a zero for truthfulness," Vai said in his statement, and he called for Cini's removal from office. Bob Krebs, a spokesman for the diocese, said the diocese stands behind Cini and his testimony.
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