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	Jury Awards Priest Abuse Victim $30 Million By Rachel Feintzeig Wall Street Journal December 2, 2010 http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2010/12/02/jury-awards-priest-abuse-victim-30-million/ A $30 million award for a victim of clergy sexual abuse could change the tide in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington’s bankruptcy case. A Delaware jury Wednesday found former priest Francis DeLuca and St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic parish liable for the damages, with St. Elizabeth’s negligence costing it at least $3 million, according to the News Journal. Abuse survivor John M. Vai, who was molested as a teenager during the 1960s, could see even more funds after the jury considers possible punitive damages following additional testimony next week. While the Wilmington diocese was shielded from the trial, the decision could have an impact on the sex abuse cases that are tied up in bankruptcy court, the News Journal reported. Experts told the Delaware newspaper that the Superior Court ruling could bring parties in the Chapter 11 proceedings back to the negotiating table, after court-appointed mediation reached an impasse in early September. Armed with an actual judgment — one of the first to implicate a parish for failing to supervise its then-priest — abuse victims might have a stronger bargaining chip to play during negotiations, Widener Law professor Juliet Moringiello told the News Journal. In a statement issued in the wake of the decision, Wilmington Bishop W. Francis Malooly intimated that the diocese might be willing to return to mediation. “The diocese will continue to seek a just and equitable settlement with Mr. Vai and all survivors of sexual abuse through the mediation process which we have pursued in good faith since July,” he said. A hearing in the diocese’s case is scheduled for Monday.
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