NEWARK (NJ)
NorthJersey.com [Woodland Park NJ]
October 1, 2025
By William Westhoven, Morristown Daily Record
MORRISTOWN — Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments on Monday after the defense rested its case in the Delbarton School clergy sex abuse civil trial at the Morris County Courthouse.
One final witness was called as the proceedings continued on Oct. 1. David Drake said he did not recall a New Year’s party at his house in 1975 that the plaintiff said he attended with the Rev. Edward Lott, then a priest and chemistry treacher at the exclusive all-boys prep school in Morris Township.
The plaintiff, identified only as “T.M.” and now in his 60s, testified last week that Lott took him to the party in nearby Mendham when he was a 15-year-old Delbarton sophomore. Lott, he alleges, plied him with beer and then brought him back to the priest’s secluded apartment on the Delbarton campus and sexually assaulted him on Jan. 1, 1976.
T.M. has said the trauma from that night “follows me around like a dark cloud” and had lasting impacts on his career, relationships and religious faith.
In 2017, he filed a lawsuit against Lott as well as Delbarton and the Benedictine order of Catholic monks that runs the school, arguing they ignored reports about Lott’s behavior. It is the first of 39 pending sexual abuse cases against Delbarton to go to trial.
It’s also believed to be the first clergy abuse suit involving the Catholic Church to reach trial since the state extended its statute of limitations for child sexual assault allegations. Hundreds of other cases have been filed in New Jersey accusing the church of covering up such violations.
In 2018, Delbarton and Saint Mary’s Abbey acknowledged that more than 30 men had reported being abused at the school over a span of three decades. They also revealed that eight civil lawsuits had been settled while seven others remained active.
Final witness in Delbarton trial
Drake spent only a few minutes on the stand. Called by the defense, Drake he he was 14 years old at the time of the party and attending Mencham High School. Still he knew Lott and had worked on his Delbarton campus maintenance crew for about three months.Get the Daily Briefing newsletter in your inbox.
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He testified he did not know T.M. and did not recall his parents hosting any parties, and said if they had, he would likely remember. He also said he was unaware of any reports or rumors about Delbarton staff abusing their students.
[More: Delbarton jurors hear conflicting portraits of alleged abuse victim as trial continues]
All of the defendants have denied wrongdoing. Lott testified that he could not have assaulted T.M. as described because he was assigned to serve at a church on the Jersey Shore on the night of the alleged abuse.
After Drake’s testimony, Judge Louis Sceusi informed the jury of four men and four women that the evidentiary portion of the trial was over and scheduled summations from both sides for Monday. Sceusi said he hopes to charge the jury on the same day, telling them that, “You will have as much time as you need” to arrive at a verdict.
Before that, Sceusi will meet with the attorneys for a charging conference to discuss the final jury instructions.
“Sorry, we hoped to be finished this week,” Sceusi told the jury, noting a holiday break on Thursday for Yom Kippur. “But we are ahead of schedule,” he added.