BishopAccountability.org
	Clergy Abuse in Delaware: St. E Ordered to Pay Damages of $1 By Sean O'Sullivan News Journal December 9, 2010 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101209/NEWS01/12090350 DOVER -- A Kent County jury ordered defrocked priest Francis DeLuca to pay an additional $30 million in punitive damages to sex abuse victim John M. Vai on Wednesday, on top of last week's $30 million award for compensatory damages. The jury also ruled that the actions of St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Parish were reckless enough in its apparent failure to supervise DeLuca that a punitive damage award was warranted. But the panel of 12 ordered the parish to pay only an additional $1 on top of the $3 million the jury ordered it to pay in compensatory damages last week. The jury was apparently moved by the pleas for mercy from St. Elizabeth's officials and their attorney, who warned that any additional, substantial award would "destroy" the 100-year-old parish and force closure of its two schools. Vai and his attorneys hailed the overall result as a "resounding victory" -- for the truth, for holding officials accountable and for victims of childhood sexual abuse. "John Vai had no desire to punish the people in the pews," said Vai attorney Thomas Crumplar, adding they went forward with the punitive phase only to get more information on the record about DeLuca's abuses and the cover-up, which could not be presented during the first phase of the case. "This was never about the money," said Vai, "I'm satisfied the message got out." He then thanked the judge, the jury, his attorneys and the Delaware Legislature for passing the Child Victims Act in 2007, which extended the statute of limitations for the filing of old sex abuse claims. "It is going to take me years to put my life back together. But today is a start. A new beginning for me," he said. Parish attorney Colleen Shields and its pastor, the Rev. Norman Carroll, said they were pleased with the large awards the jury imposed on DeLuca, who admitted molesting Vai and did not appear at trial to defend himself, and grateful the jury did not impose any additional, significant monetary damages on Wednesday. But, Shields said, they were disappointed that the current members of St. Elizabeth's "are being held accountable for the mistakes of the past." Carroll added he hoped the coverage of the trial would call attention to the signs of child sexual abuse and that the "experience and outcome of the trial will move those involved in the global settlement negotiations to come to an agreement" to resolve all outstanding priest abuse cases in Delaware. Carroll said "there are options" for St. Elizabeth's to deal with the $3 million award, but he said, "the bigger question is we still have other cases filed against us." And he said if those cases are not settled, "that will ultimately, definitely destroy us." Vai attorney Crumplar, who also represents other victims with pending claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and 26 parishes, agreed. He said perhaps now more pressure will come from the pews for Bishop Francis Malooly to act. "He can settle it," Crumplar said, adding there is a "reasonable" offer on the table, though he declined to offer further details. In her closing argument, Shields told the jury "the fate of St. Elizabeth's is in your hands." She said the message the jury sent with their $3 million award last week was received around the world, because it marked the first time a jury held a parish -- not a diocese -- responsible for the actions of a priest. "Never again will St. Elizabeth's fall into the darkness of secrecy. ... I'm asking you to spare them," she said. Vai attorney Stephen Neuberger took a decidedly softer tone in his closing argument, saying Vai was not contending that St. Elizabeth Parish is or was evil like DeLuca. But he told the jury that parish officials displayed an I-don't-care attitude as recently as 2006, when former pastor the Rev. Charles Dillingham failed to warn DeLuca's own family about DeLuca's past. That, Neuberger said, rose to the level of reckless indifference and aided DeLuca in his abuse. Neuberger said Vai's intent was not to shut down St. Elizabeth's, but he asked the jury to at least send a message by finding that St. Elizabeth's was reckless -- no matter the dollar amount -- because that finding alone "would be powerful." Contact Sean O'Sullivan at 324-2777 or sosullivan@delawareonline.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.