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	Salesianum Attorney Asks for Sex-Abuse Case to Be Dismissed By Esteban Parra The News Journal June 26, 2006 http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060626/NEWS/60626012 Wilmington – A Salesianum School attorney urged a judge this morning to dismiss a sex-molestation case against the prominent Catholic school and the religious order that runs it because the statute of limitations have expired. Delaware's statute of limitations gives juvenile victims two years after the incident to file a civil suit against an adult attacker. In this case, the alleged nine years of molestation ended in 1985 – almost two decades before the lawsuit was filed. "The statute has run out," Salesianum attorney Mark L. Reardon said. "Not by a little. By a lot." But attorney Thomas S. Neuberger, who represents Eric Eden, said his client repressed incidents previous to 1985, remembering them after allegations of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church led to a nationwide scandal. Eden, formerly Eric Mazzetti, of Wilmington, said he was molested from 1976 to 1985 by the Rev. James W. O'Neill. Eden claimed he reported the last incident to his parents, who confronted and came to an oral agreement with the school and the order that operates it, Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. The agreement, according to Eden, was that O'Neill would be removed from youth-related ministry permanently. In exchange, Eden's family would not report the incident. Attorneys for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli and O'Neill also asked this morning that the case be dismissed. Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. said he would consider the attorneys' arguments and release his decision at a later date. Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
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