Delbarton: Is the elite school's admission of sex abuse claims enough to stop questions?

As you drive along the road that winds through the 400 acres of the elite Delbarton School, an all-boys Roman Catholic academy on the outskirts of Morristown, it’s hard to imagine anything bad happening in such a serene place.

You first pass a quiet pond. Then a series of poles adorned with banners bearing the words “Brotherhood,” “Faith,” “Tradition,” “Spirit” and “Service.” Then, beyond lush fields, thick groves of oaks and maples and a smattering of statues of saints, you reach an elegant granite building that exudes stability, protection, safety.

That stately image suffered a major blow this week.

In a stunning letter, running nearly 1,800 words and addressed to the school’s high-powered alumni, deep-pocketed donors and the parents of nearly 600 current students, Delbarton officials admitted that the seemingly peaceful campus and monastery had been home to 13 monks who have been accused of sexually abusing 30 boys over three decades, ending in 1999.  

In the letter, school officials carefully sidestepped the question of whether they felt the accusations were true. Instead, the letter merely acknowledged the existence of the accusations.

But the revelations of such extensive abuse claims confirmed, in part, a series of accusations in recent years by several former Delbarton students — accusations that the school had met for years with tough legal challenges and stern denials.

The letter, dated July 20 and widely circulated this week, would appear at first glance to be a major reversal from that combative tone. “This is consistent with our belief that transparency may help the victims in their healing and help our community and broader society in preventing this from happening again,” Abbot Richard Cronin, the head of St. Mary's Abbey of the Benedictine Order, and Father Michael Tidd, Delbarton's headmaster, wrote in the letter. 

Such is the official line being promoted by Delbarton.

“Over time, the issue gets blurred by everything coming out piecemeal,” said Anthony Cicatiello, a Delbarton spokesman, explaining why the school is sending the letter now. 

“It’s important," Cicatiello added, "to put everything together so people have some understanding about what happened over time.” 

In a written statement emailed late Thursday evening by Cicatiello, Delbarton headmaster Father Tidd added: "Yes, we are at a turning point. We have learned hard lessons from a difficult past. We want to engage our constituents and the wider community compassionately, openly, and transparently. This letter is an effort to do so more clearly than in the past. That is why we chose to email and mail this letter to the entire Delbarton community."

Critics, however, wonder if the letter is more of a public relations tactic to head off bad publicity that could tarnish Delbarton’s carefully polished image as a training ground for leaders in politics, science, the arts and business. Some say the letter does not go far enough.

“The cynical part of me feels that this is more fluff,” said the Rev. Kenneth Lasch, a former pastor in the Paterson Diocese who has been praised by Catholic reformers across the nation for his whistle-blowing efforts against the church’s cover-up of sex abuse. 

“If Delbarton didn't make some attempt to explain what happened,” Lasch added, “the school will run the high risk of lowering the esteem for itself.”

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With a tuition of nearly $40,000 a year and an alumni roster that includes actors, political figures, doctors, lawyers, well-to-do Wall Street brokers and the sons of former Gov. Chris Christie, Delbarton has long been regarded as one of the most renowned private college-prep academies in New Jersey if not the nation. This year, Niche.com, a Pittsburgh-based website that rates schools and colleges, named Delbarton the top Catholic high school in New Jersey and the eighth-best among the state’s elite secular and religious private schools.

What the latest news of sexual abuse means for Delbarton’s image — and its ranking among elite schools — is still an open question.

A turning point?

The revelations come in the wake of another shocking admission by church officials — that former Newark Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick abused several young men for a number of years, including seminarians he recruited to study for the priesthood.

In North Jersey, McCarrick was known as a tireless promoter of conservative church doctrine as well as an advocate for the poor, civil rights and immigrants. But friends and others — including abused seminarians who became priests — closely guarded his secret life of abuse.

When McCarrick was promoted in 2001 to the rank of cardinal and installed as the archbishop of Washington, D.C., he befriended Democrats and Republicans alike and became a key adviser to the Vatican on U.S. and international affairs. Though he has since retired, the Vatican has ordered him to maintain a life of seclusion and has barred him from leading public church services.

Like the Delbarton accusations, rumors about McCarrick had circulated for years among clergy members, the media and advocates for victims of sexual abuse. 

But those accusations could never be verified.

Now that culture of religious secrecy seems to have cracked. And taken together, the revelations about Delbarton and McCarrick may be seen as something of a breakthrough for victims of sex abuse in their efforts to hold powerful institutions accountable.

But how big and permanent a breakthrough remains to be seen.

In interviews on Thursday, victims and their advocates were reluctant to proclaim that the Delbarton letter — and the revelations about McCarrick — represent a turning point.

For many victims, the Delbarton letter in particular was yet another reminder of years of deep and private pain.

“This letter is extremely significant,” said Patricia Serrano of Mendham, who became a widely respected advocate for sex abuse victims in North Jersey after learning that her son, Mark, had been abused by a local parish priest. 

But Serrano nonetheless said many would be shocked that such widespread abuse could take place at such a respected school as Delbarton, only a few miles from her home.

“It will be a shock to people,” she said. “They don’t believe it could happen there.”

Robert Hoatson, a former priest who served several parishes in Bergen County and is now an outspoken advocate for victims, suggested that a key factor in Delbarton’s promise of transparency was pressure from the media.

“The only reason they came clean was because of press,” Hoatson said. “I think they thought all along that they could take steps to cover up and hide. But it’s not working.”

Records remain under seal

The Delbarton letter was circulated nearly a month after The Record and NorthJersey.com reported that 11 lawsuits had been filed against Delbarton and the campus monastery, St. Mary’s Abbey, since 2012.  

In explaining why it was sending such an extensive letter last week, Delbarton cited those news accounts as a reason “to address these issues with you directly and forthrightly.”

But while Delbarton claims it is trying to be transparent, the school is also attempting to limit how much can be revealed. 

Soon after The Record broke the news about the lawsuits, Delbarton's attorneys obtained a court order barring The Record, NorthJersey.com and other news organizations from reporting on the contents of court documents filed in response to those suits that were supposed to have been under seal. 

The revelations by Delbarton — and news that the school is still trying to keep some court documents under seal and away from public scrutiny — is especially painful for the Crane family.

Bill Crane Sr. taught physics and history at Delbarton for four decades. He also served 23 years as the school’s assistant headmaster. 

Reached at his home on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Crane, now 76, said he had tried to question the Delbarton monks years ago when he heard rumors of sex abuse. Only after he retired in 2007 did he discover that his twin sons were victims.

“I was shocked and willing to do anything to get to some type of answer,” Crane said. “We couldn’t even get to the admission line that something took place.”

Crane’s sons, Tom and Bill Jr., kept the secret from their father for years, embarrassed that they had been fondled as young boys when they visited the campus.

On Thursday, Bill Crane Jr., now 52 and living near Seattle, where he is a horticulturalist, said he felt no sense of victory after learning of Delbarton’s admissions.

“Delbarton has done everything it can to screw me and my family,” Crane said, adding that the recent letter from the school is “a bunch of spin-doctoring, which conveniently tries to convey that the school is doing the right thing.”

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Bill Crain Jr. said he takes comfort in a small memorial to sex abuse victims that he built near the parking lot of his home parish in Mendham, where he was abused by another priest, the Rev. James Hanley, who was defrocked after admitting he molested at least a dozen children.

The memorial, which consists of a tire-sized millstone, has a plaque quoting a passage in the Gospel of Matthew that says anyone who harms a child should “have a millstone hung around his neck and thrown into the depth of the sea.”

The memorial has been vandalized twice — and twice repaired — since it was dedicated in 2004. But Crane says its message still resonates with him.

“There’s no doubt that I’m a stronger and better person through all this,” he said. “But it has not been an easy pass. They did a pretty good job of wearing me down.”