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	Priest Admitted Sexually Abusing Delaware Boy, Ruling Says By Randall Chase News Journal May 28, 2011 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110528/NEWS01/105280328/Priest-admitted-sexually-abusing-Delaware-boy-ruling-says A Roman Catholic priest relieved of his duties at a North Carolina church almost a decade ago amid allegations of "inappropriate behavior" admitted in 2007 that he sexually abused a Delaware boy, according to a ruling in a lawsuit between the former priest's religious order and an insurance company. Details regarding the admission by the former Rev. James O'Neill were outlined in a ruling by Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady that was obtained by the Associated Press. The ruling, dated March 31, was briefly posted on the public court docket Thursday before being removed. O'Neill was a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and former principal of Salesianum School in Wilmington, where he was accused of molesting Eric Eden over several years beginning in 1976. O'Neill, 71, was relieved of his duties as pastor of St. Paul the Apostle church in Greensboro, N.C., in 2002. In a 2004 lawsuit against church officials, Eden claimed that O'Neill molested him hundreds of times over a nine-year period, beginning when he was 8 years old, at his family's home, in O'Neill's rectory bedroom and school office, and elsewhere. The Associated Press does not normally identify victims of sexual abuse, but Eden, 43, filed his lawsuit under his own name and has spoken publicly about the case, which resulted in settlements with the Oblates, Salesianum and the Diocese of Wilmington. Brady's ruling came in a dispute between the Oblates and its insurance company, which claimed that it was not obligated to cover the Oblates in the Eden case because Eden did not suffer a "bodily injury" during the policy period. The Oblates countered that Eden did indeed suffer bodily injury at the hands of O'Neill, citing Eden's allegations that the abuse resulted in unexplained rashes, headaches, stomach problems and depression. Brady said the issue of bodily injury should be decided by a jury, but she noted that courts in other jurisdictions have found that it can include physical manifestations of emotional distress resulting from sexual molestation. In accusing the insurance company of wrongfully denying coverage, the Oblates argued that the policy was in effect in 1985, when O'Neill admitted to another priest that, while drunk and visiting Eden's home, he tried to put his hand underneath the boy's shirt in an attempt at sexual gratification. The incident was summarized in an email to Oblate officials from their attorney, Mark Reardon, after O'Neill was deposed in December 2007 by Eden's attorneys. Reardon also wrote that O'Neill acknowledged having inappropriate sexual contact with Eden for several years beginning in the early 1980s. The admissions came during questioning ordered by a judge after O'Neill had refused to answer questions during a July 2007 deposition, citing his right against self-incrimination almost 200 times. Superior Court Judge Calvin Scott Jr. ruled that O'Neill must answer questions about alleged incidents of abuse in Delaware and New Jersey -- but not about alleged acts in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania -- because the criminal statutes of limitations in Delaware and New Jersey had expired. Although Scott ordered that O'Neill's December 2007 deposition be sealed, Brady included portions of it in her ruling. O'Neill's attorney, John Deckers, did not immediately return a telephone message Friday, nor did an attorney representing the Oblates in the insurance case. Stephen Neuberger, an attorney who represented Eden in his lawsuit against church officials, declined to comment.
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