DELAWARE: Jury Awards Record $30M Settlement To Victim Of Priest Molestation

A jury in Delaware has awarded a record $30M settlement to a man who says that he was sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest more than 100 times while he was a boy. That is the highest amount ever awarded to a single plaintiff in any clergy abuse case. In an unusual turn, the judgment rules that the man's parish itself must pay $3M of the settlement, as the Diocese of Delaware conveniently declared bankruptcy last year in anticipation of the verdict.

Parishes have previously been held liable in only one or two cases involving abuse by Catholic priests, according to records kept by an advocacy group for victims known as bishopaccountability.org. It is usually the diocese or the religious order, not the parish, that is held responsible for damages. But the Diocese of Wilmington, which covers all of Delaware, declared bankruptcy last year just as the lawsuit was going to trial, so this lawsuit as well as more than 100 pending lawsuits against the diocese was frozen. The jury is set to hear evidence on punitive damages on Monday. Thomas S. Neuberger and Stephen J. Neuberger, father-son lawyers for the plaintiffs, say they have saved the most damning evidence for this phase, and that the award to the plaintiff could grow substantially beyond the compensatory damages.

According to testimony, other priests in the man's parish were aware of the assaults, but did nothing.