NEWARK (NJ)
NJ Spotlight News - WNET [New York NY]
October 10, 2025
By Briana Vannozzi
Delbarton School graduate was first in New Jersey to win civil trial against Catholic institution
A New Jersey jury awarded $5 million in damages Wednesday to a Delbarton School graduate, known only as T.M., who alleged he was sexually abused by a Benedictine monk nearly 50 years ago.
The verdict marks the first time a civil sex abuse case against the Catholic Church has gone to trial in New Jersey. A trial in the punitive damages phase of the case is expected to start next week.
The jury decision could pave the way for dozens more lawsuits tied to Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey, advocates say.
Billy Crane, a former Delbarton student who previously settled a similar case alongside his twin brother, called the verdict a “day of justice” and praised the jury for reaching a decision based on “overwhelming evidence.”
“This is a high watermark,” Crane said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News anchor Briana Vannozzi. “For the first time in church history, a victim was able to face his abuser and transfer guilt and shame back where it belongs, onto the abuser and the institution.”
T.M.’s legal team is preparing for a second phase of the trial to determine punitive damages. While the jury found Delbarton negligent in failing to supervise the monk, they did not conclude the school acted with intent.
The school said in a statement Thursday that the abuse was inexcusable but emphasized the alleged incidents took place at a time “when modern safeguards did not exist.”
Crane criticized the response, saying Delbarton remains “in denial” and “entrenched in a cover-up mentality,” unlike institutions such as Penn State that took broader accountability.
“There are 40 more cases to come,” Crane said. “The culture that harbored serial child abusers at Delbarton is being exposed.”
During the trial, the defense pointed to T.M.’s professional success and long-term marriage to question the impact of the abuse. Crane pushed back, saying survivors often wear “masks” to function in society and suppress trauma for years.
T.M.’s contact with his alleged abuser after graduation was also raised in court, but Crane said continued communication is not uncommon.
“They were like father figures,” he said. “You don’t always process the abuse until much later in life.”
Briana Vannozzi An Emmy award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS. She’s worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News, and later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 covering crime and politics in New York City. Her work has taken her to national presidential nominating conventions, Capitol Hill, up and down the East Coast and every corner of the Garden State. She’s interviewed every New Jersey governor dating back to Jon Corzine and moderated numerous political debates and forums. Her work has also earned awards from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Press Association. A Burlington County native, she’s honored to be serving and covering her home state and raising her family there.