Lawsuit alleges priest sex abuse in Delaware

[Ian David]

July 13, 2007

A man filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging he was molested as a teen by a Catholic priest, becoming the first person to sue under a new Delaware law allowing child sexual abuse victims to seek damages for misdeeds that occurred years ago.

Robert Quill, 52, a Wilmington, Del., native who lives in Marathon, Fla., filed a federal lawsuit alleging that as a teenager he was molested at least 300 times by the Reverend Francis G. DeLuca, who worked for the Catholic diocese of Wilmington for 35 years.

Quill's lawsuit alleges that church officials in Wilmington knew as early as 1958 that DeLuca was sexually abusing young boys, yet continued to allow him to serve as a priest for a generation.

The lawsuit was filed less than 48 hours after Gov. Ruth Ann Minner signed a law abolishing Delaware's two-year statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits for victims of child sex abuse.

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