A month after lawyers for the Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J. tried unsuccessfully to get the state’s new Child Victim’s Act declared unconstitutional, the Catholic school was slammed with six lawsuits alleging former students at the school were sexually abused.

The cases involve claims of decades-old abuse, some dating as far back as the 1960s, that would have been impossible to bring to court without the look back allowance included in the Child Victim’s Act, which established a two-year period during which alleged victims can file lawsuits regardless of how long ago the purported abuse took place.

Lawyers for plaintiffs in the Delbarton School lawsuits filed the suits in New Jersey Superior Court in Morris County on July 7. Patch.com reports that the lawyers have said more cases are forthcoming.

New Allegations Against Former Delbarton School Teachers

The latest complaints name five former teachers who were Benedictine Monks at St. Mary’s Abbey, which runs the all-boys school, and a former lay teacher. St. Mary’s Abbey is also named as a defendant. All of the men have been involved in prior sex abuse settlements made by the order, according to the New Jersey Herald.

Timothy Brennan, one of the accused monks, has been named in at least nine previous sexual abuse lawsuits, the Herald said. He died in 2019. In the latest case, Brennan is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old between 1984 and 1985.

The Herald also reported that another monk, Michael Worry, was accused in a 2015 case that later settled. Worry is reportedly still living on the Delbarton School campus “with restrictions on his travel” and “no student contact,” according to a school spokesperson. In the recent lawsuit, Worry is alleged to have abused a minor from 1978 to 1979.

The other monks named in the lawsuits are Justin Capato, Donal Fox, and Malachy Robert Flavin. The men are accused of sexually abusing students in the 1980s. Former law teacher Giacomo Pagano, also a named defendant, is accused of sexually abusing a student from 1968 to 1969.

New Jersey Child Victims Act

New Jersey lawmakers passed the state’s Child Victim’s Act in May 2019. It extended the time allowed to victims of childhood sexual abuse who want to take their abusers to court. Prior to its enactment, victims had until the age of 20, or two years from the time they realized they were damaged by the abuse, to file a civil lawsuit. Under the new law, which took effect in December, victims now have until the age of 55, or seven years from the time the abuse is realized to have done harm, The National Law Review explains.

Additionally, the act created a two-year lookback period for alleged victims to file lawsuits, even if their claims exceeded the statute of limitations or were previously dismissed because they were filed too late, the Law Review says.

Recent Delbarton School Case Reaffirmed the Child Victim’s Act

Attorneys defending the Delbarton School in a 2017 sex abuse lawsuit filed by a former student asked Morris County Superior Court Judge Paul Bogaard to throw the case out and declare the Child Victim’s Act unconstitutional. That case involved accusations of abuse alleged to have taken place 45 years ago. In May, NorthJersey.com reported that the judge refused, effectively clearing the way for similar cases to be filed. 

The lawyers representing the six most recent plaintiffs told the Herald they expect to file another 14 or so similar cases.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.