Judge denies Delbarton School's request to find new sex abuse law unconstitutional

Abbott Koloff
NorthJersey.com

A judge has denied a challenge to a law that loosened restrictions on civil sex abuse complaints — allowing a lawsuit to continue against the order that runs the Delbarton School and clearing the way for dozens of similar cases against the Catholic Church and other institutions to go forward in state courts.

The lawsuit against Delbarton was filed more than two years before New Jersey extended the civil statute of limitations for sex abuse cases — and suspended it altogether for two years. Dozens of sex abuse lawsuits have been filed since the law took effect on Dec. 1, 2019, many of them against the Catholic Church for alleged abuse from decades ago.

Attorneys for St. Mary's Abbey and the Order of St. Benedict argued that the suspension of the statute of limitations is unconstitutional and asked the judge to dismiss the case. Alternatively, they asked for a hearing to determine whether the accuser met the requirements of the old statute — which had been in effect when the suit was filed.

Campus of Delbarton School in Morristown where according to a letter to alumni and other members of the school community, thirteen monks from St. Mary's Abbey, which runs the Delbarton School in Morris Township, have been accused of sexually abusing 30 people over the past three decades.

Morris County Superior Court judge Paul Bogaard filed a court order Tuesday denying the religious order's "Motion to Dismiss on statute of limitations grounds, constitutionality grounds and grounds for setting a Lopez hearing." Lopez hearings determine whether plaintiffs have met statute of limitation requirements.

The judge had made the ruling during a court hearing Friday, when attorneys argued their cases remotely by video. The decision allows the case to continue under the new law and ended a challenge that could have impacted many other lawsuits filed since that law took effect.

Greg Gianforcaro, an attorney who represents the accuser, said in a news release that the judge "rejected Delbarton's argument" that the new law "was unconstitutional and violated its right to due process." He called the ruling "a huge victory for New Jersey survivors."

He said in an interview this had been the first and only court challenge to the new law.

The religious order that runs Delbarton said Tuesday in a statement that "the litigation is active and presently in the courts" and that it "does not comment on any active litigation."

The case involves a man who is now 60 years old and has accused a priest at Delbarton of abusing him when he was a 15-year-old student there. It is the lone case pending against St. Mary's Abbey and the order that runs the Morris Township school after 10 other lawsuits had been settled over the past several years.

Those suits alleged that monks from St. Mary's Abbey, which is on the Delbarton campus, abused students at Delbarton and another school that the order ran at St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish in Linden.

Gianforcaro has said he plans to file additional lawsuits against the order.

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Until the new law took effect, survivors of childhood sexual abuse had until they turned 20 or two years from the time they recognized they'd been harmed by abuse to file lawsuits. That changed last year when Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law allowing alleged victims to sue until they turn 55, or within seven years of their realization that the abuse caused harm.

In addition, victims previously barred by the statute of limitations from suing their abusers and the institutions that protected them have two years to file lawsuits seeking damages.

Richard Edward Lott, a priest who taught at Delbarton, has been accused of sexual abuse in two lawsuits.

Gianforcaro said on Tuesday that had Friday's ruling gone the other way, he would have expected similar motions to be made in other sex abuse cases across the state. "I would have expected hundreds of motions to be filed," he said.

He said in the release that the judge "understood the Legislature's intent" in passing the new law and that the ruling ensured that survivors would be able to take advantage of it "in order to expose the secrets long held and get the help they deserve.”

A group that advocates for abuse survivors said in a statement that the order’s argument that the new law was unconstitutional was "an attempt to avoid responsibility in a current clergy sexual abuse lawsuit."

"We are glad that Judge Peter Bogaard saw through their argument and denied the Delbarton motion," Mark Crawford, head of the state chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, said in the statement. "This story is a reminder of the challenges faced by survivors as they come forward and seek justice. By allowing these cases to be heard, children and communities are safer as abusers are made public and institutions held responsible."

Two years ago, St. Mary's sent a letter to alumni and others affiliated with the Delbarton School revealing that 13 of the abbey's monks had been accused of sexually abusing 30 people over the past three decades. The letter was sent after NorthJersey.com published a story about the order settling five lawsuits involving its monks, with six pending. Five additional suits have since been settled.

The pending suit names Richard Lott, a former priest who worked at Delbarton, as the alleged abuser. Lott had been named in another suit that the order settled in 2006, according to court records.

Timothy Brennan, a priest and former Delbarton teacher, has been at the center of 10 settlements, including nine of the lawsuits settled over the last several years. Brennan, who died last year in Missouri where he had been living in a treatment center for clerics, was convicted in 1987 of criminal aggravated sexual contact with a 15-year-old Delbarton student who reportedly received more than $1 million in a civil settlement without filing a lawsuit.

Abbott Koloff is an investigative reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his watchdog work that safeguards our communities and democracy, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: koloff@northjersey.com Twitter: @abbottkoloff