Delbarton alumnus files sex abuse suit

A 45-year-old Washington State man has claimed in a lawsuit that he now has a vivid memory of being molested 28 years ago by a Benedictine monk when he was a student at the private Delbarton School in Morris Township.

“The repressed memories of the childhood sexual abuse to which plaintiff had been subjected did not meaningfully coalesce, with any sense of clarity or understanding, until on or about Sept. 10, 2003,” according to Richard H. Stenson’s lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, Morristown.

Stenson, who could not be reached at his home in Woodinville, Wash., names as his molester the Rev. Richard E. Lott, who in 1977 was a monk in the Order of St. Benedict. The monks run the Delbarton School for boys in grades 7-12.

Stenson’s suit said he enrolled at the school in 1975 and allegedly was molested and given marijuana and alcohol by Lott in 1977.

The lawsuit, alleging lack of action and oversight, also names a former headmaster and abbot of the order who served in the 1970s as defendants.

September 03, 2005
Delbarton alumnus files sex abuse suit
Daily Record