Another former altar boy, now a middle-aged man, stepped forward Friday to file suit against the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington over acts allegedly committed by convicted child sexual abuser the Rev. Francis DeLuca.John Michael Vai, 56, stood silently alongside his attorney Stephen J. Neuberger, who detailed crimes Vai said DeLuca committed against him between ages 13 and 17.
Neuberger said Vai had repressed memories of what happened when he was living in Wilmington and was an altar boy at St. Elizabeth's Church from 1966 to 1970.
A 2004 article in The News Journal about priest sexual abuse triggered memories in Vai, Neuberger said, and a subsequent lawsuit filed by Rob Quill against DeLuca added to it.
Neuberger said Vai knew Quill, who was younger, and regularly walked to school with him.
In a written statement read by Neuberger, Vai said, "I suffer from the guilt of not being strong enough to stop him [DeLuca] to protect myself and others."
The suit was filed in Kent County Superior Court and takes advantage of the Delaware Child Victim's Act of 2007, which suspended the two-year statute of limitations until July 2009 so victims like Quill and Vai could come forward.
Vai is the latest in a growing list of accusers against DeLuca, who was convicted of the sexual abuse of a child last year in Syracuse, N.Y.
The victim in that case, Michael Dingle, also has filed a civil suit in Delaware.
The Wilmington Diocese has apologized to a victim of DeLuca in another lawsuit and Neuberger said the diocese has signaled its intent to resolve lawsuits involving DeLuca and make amends to victims. He expects this lawsuit, like others against DeLuca, to be settled out of court.
Diocese spokesman Robert Krebs declined to comment Friday becausethe diocese had not yet seen the Vai suit.
In addition to Dingle, Quill and Vai, there are three other "John Does" who have filed civil lawsuits anonymously against the diocese and others over acts by DeLuca. The three did not use their names, though they have been provided to the diocese, to avoid further humiliation.
All the DeLuca suits are being handled by the Neuberger Firm along with Jacobs & Crumplar.
In the Vai lawsuit, as in the others, attorneys charge the diocese was aware of the allegations against DeLuca but took no action. Neuberger said it was a "calculated business decision" by church officials because of a shortage of Roman Catholic priests.
Vai alleges that DeLuca abused him more than 100 times at the church and on altar boy trips to New York, Rehoboth Beach and Washington, D.C. Neuberger said DeLuca would sometimes provide Vai with alcohol to facilitate the abuse.
As a result of the assaults, Neuberger said, Vai, who is a divorced father of two and works in construction, suffers from relationship problems, social isolation, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, nightmares, flashbacks and a loss of religious faith.
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