Judge to rule on claims Delbarton concealed evidence in sex abuse trial
(Morristown Green) At a virtual hearing Friday, the plaintiff asked a judge to reopen the punitive damages phase of his trial and to consider sanctions ranging from civil contempt to possible jail time for lawyers and others he says withheld key evidence.
Judge to rule on claims Delbarton concealed evidence in sex abuse trial
A Morristown jury already found the Benedictine monks who run the Delbarton School liable for sexually abusing a teenager in 1976.
Now, the survivor says they concealed evidence that might have persuaded jurors to go further — and punish the institution itself.
At a virtual hearing Friday, the plaintiff asked a judge to reopen the punitive damages phase of his trial and to consider sanctions ranging from civil contempt to possible jail time for lawyers and others he says withheld key evidence.
Superior Court Judge Louis Sceusi said he expects to rule next week on the blistering post-trial allegations, which accuse the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey (OBSNJ), which operates the tony Morris Township prep school and St. Mary’s Abbey, and its attorneys of concealing investigative reports the plaintiff says could have changed the jury’s decision not to impose punitive damages.
The plaintiff, identified only as T.M., says he was sexually abused by Richard Lott, then a monk at Delbarton, in a campus barn on New Year’s Day 1976, when he was 15 years old.
Last October, after a six-week civil trial in Morris County Superior Court, a jury awarded him $5 million for pain and suffering — a landmark decision in the first sex abuse case against the Catholic Church in New Jersey to reach trial.
But jurors declined to impose punitive damages against OSBNJ, finding insufficient proof that the religious order acted with the “malice or wanton disregard” required for that higher level of accountability.
Now, T.M.’s lawyers contend the jury never saw critical evidence.
“At every point where the truth should have surfaced, OSBNJ’s answers kept it buried,” lead attorney Rayna Kessler argued Friday before Judge Sceusi.
The dispute centers on four investigative reports prepared between 2013 and 2018 by private investigator Nicholas Susalis, who had been hired by defense attorneys to interview monks and others about abuse allegations involving Delbarton.
According to court filings, the reports emerged only after trial, during discovery in a separate consolidated lawsuit involving dozens of other Delbarton abuse claims.
The reports remain under seal. But T.M.’s lawyers argue they contain evidence of additional allegations involving Lott that should have been disclosed years ago under a 2021 court order requiring production of all abuse-related documents concerning him.
The plaintiff’s attorneys also allege that defense lawyers falsely told discovery referee Judge Freda Wolfson in January 2024 that no additional Lott reports existed, despite the fact that Susalis testified he had delivered them years earlier to defense counsel.
They further accuse Delbarton’s corporate representative of understating the number of abuse allegations against Lott during sworn testimony.
Kessler argued Friday that the withheld reports went directly to the punitive damages question — whether OBSNJ knowingly ignored or concealed abuse.
“The court’s orders have to mean something,” she told the judge. “And a survivor’s right to discovery has to mean something.”
T.M.’s legal team is seeking sweeping remedies, including reopening the punitive damages phase of trial, striking OBSNJ’s defenses, declaring certain facts established against the institution, awarding legal fees, and holding responsible parties in contempt of court. The motion also raises the possibility of imprisonment if lesser sanctions prove ineffective.
‘APPARENTLY, WE ALL NEED TO BE JAILED’
Defense lawyer Stefani Field, who rejected the accusations Friday as a “blatant misrepresentation,” called the sanctions demand “outrageous.”
“Apparently, we all need to be jailed,” she said sarcastically.
“In no way did OSBNJ conceal or withhold any documents,” Field told the court.
Complicating matters, all four monks interviewed in the disputed reports — Brother Jonathan Michael Hunt, Father Benet Caffrey, Father Timothy Brennan, and Father Donal Fox — are now dead. Fox and Brennan were identified during trial as priests with histories of serial sexual abuse.
T.M.’s lawyers argue that the deaths make the alleged concealment especially damaging because none of those witnesses can now be questioned further.
Field argued there was nothing “explosive” in the four reports, and said jurors already had heard the essential information during trial.
She specifically addressed what she described as the report most directly implicating Lott — a priest’s account of having seen a student in Lott’s room — and dismissed it as too vague to carry much weight.
“For all we know,” Field said, “they could have been watching a ball game together.”
Field also maintained the plaintiff is using the wrong legal mechanism to challenge the verdict, noting that motions for a new trial generally must be filed within 20 days. A final judgment in the case was entered earlier this month.
“We know that that ship has sailed,” she said.
“This case is no longer being actively litigated,” Field added. “The only appropriate remedies are appellate remedies.” The defense team — which lost its own bid for a retrial in December — wants the plaintiffs to pay its costs for defending what it deems a baseless motion.
In earlier filings, OBSNJ argued the reports were protected attorney work product and properly withheld, under attorney-client privilege.
But T.M.’s lawyers counter that even privileged documents must be identified on a privilege log so opposing counsel can challenge the claim — something they say did not happen here.
Friday’s arguments ran just under an hour. Judge Sceusi, who presided over the original trial, saidhe expects to rule next week. Appeals are likely regardless of the outcome. Thirty-eight additional sexual abuse lawsuits against Delbarton remain pending; the school has settled other cases.
At trial, the 89-year old Lott — who left the priesthood decades ago — denied the abuse allegations, contending he was elsewhere over the New Year’s holiday when T.M. said the incident occurred.
Judge to rule on claims Delbarton concealed evidence in sex abuse trial
Morristown Green
Kevin Coughlin
May 22, 2026
