Delaware Jury Goes Easy on Parish in Abuse Verdict

By | December 14, 2010

A Delaware jury that broke precedent by placing some of the blame for a priest abuse case with the local parish has gone light on the punitive damages.

The jury last week chose to make St. Elizabeth’s parish in Wilmington pay $1 for its negligence in not preventing former priest Francis DeLuca from abusing a child in the 1960s.

The decision came after the jury decided last week that the parish should pay $3 million in compensatory damages.

The accused former priest is not getting off lightly: He has been ordered to pay $27 million in compensatory damages and was ordered Wednesday to pay another $30 million in punitive damages.

Attorneys for the victim who filed the lawsuit say they don’t expect to collect any money from DeLuca.

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Latest Comments

  • December 15, 2010 at 7:42 am
    P.K. says:
    Anyone who waits this long to come forward with an alleged abuse claim should be told to shove-it. It's absurd that everthing else in the world has a statute of limitations e... read more
  • December 14, 2010 at 3:46 am
    He's an attorney, Wud says:
    If you look into his eyes, it will look like this.... -$$-
  • December 14, 2010 at 1:59 am
    wudchuck says:
    "The accused former priest is not getting off lightly: He has been ordered to pay $27 million in compensatory damages and was ordered Wednesday to pay another $30 million in p... read more

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