NEWARK (NJ)
Patch [New York City NY]
October 9, 2025
By Jack Slocum
After two weeks of testimony and two days of deliberations, the verdict on the historic sex abuse case involving Delbarton School is in, according to a report from nj.com.
On Wednesday, a jury found that the plaintiff, only identified as T.M., is entitled to $5 million in compensatory damages from The Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, which operates the all-boys prep school, and former Delbarton Monk Rev. Richard Lott, the report reads.
Patch has reached out to attorneys regarding the ruling, but they are unable to comment at this time, they said.
The report added that the jury found The Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey 65 percent liable for the abuse and Lott 35 percent liable.
Additional punitive damages may be awarded at a hearing next week.
The case, T.M. v. Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, was the first clergy sexual abuse lawsuit to go to trial in New Jersey against the Catholic Church. It is the first of nearly 40 pending abuse cases involving the all-boys school and its church affiliates.
Background
The jury found that T.M., now in his 60s, was sexually abused by Father Richard Lott as a 15-year-old Delbarton student in the 1970s. Lott served as a Benedictine monk, teacher, and supervisor of student workers in Delbarton’s maintenance department.
T.M. added that he was abused by the clergyman in his secluded residence on campus, where Lott is said to have “groomed other boys by providing pornography, alcohol, and illicit substances.” According to court documents, other Delbarton administrators knew about the “illicit substances” being given to students, but no action was taken.
“OSBNJ increasingly granted Lott a significant amount of freedom that enabled him to groom and sexually abuse (T.M.) Despite having the right to control Lott in each of his roles at St. Mary’s Abbey and Delbarton, OSBNJ chose not to impose any limits on his place of residence, responsibilities, or the boundaries of his relationships with students,” the suit claims. “This freedom included the head of OSBNJ expressly granting Lott permission to move his residence to a secluded, private barn away from where other monks lived. It was at this barn, with no supervision, that he fostered inappropriate relationships with numerous students and sexually abused (T.M.)… By providing Lott with such a broad scope of authority and independence, OSBNJ aided him in his sexual abuse of (T.M.) and is thus vicariously liable for (T.M.’s) harm.”
T.M. reported the abuse to Abbot Brian Clarke, who later admitted to destroying the complaint and never contacting police, according to court documents. While Clarke died in 2019, Delbarton’s gymnasium was named after him. Lott was fired from Delbarton for “unlawful absence,” but remains an ordained priest today.
In 2018, Delbarton admitted that at least 30 students had come forward with sexual abuse allegations that took place between 1968 and 1999.
New Jersey’s Child Victims Act went into effect from 2019 to 2021, allowing people to file civil claims of sexual abuse even when the abuse exceeded the statute of limitations. Six more Delbarton alumni, in addition to T.M., came forward with their stories, prompting more lawsuits.
According to court documents, T.M. sought personal injury claims as a result of the childhood sex abuse, including physical, emotional, and/or psychiatric injuries, as well as PTSD, depression, loss of Catholic faith, and much more.