A Delaware jury that broke precedent by placing some of the blame for a priest abuse case with the local parish has gone light on the punitive damages.
The jury last week chose to make St. Elizabeth’s parish in Wilmington pay $1 for its negligence in not preventing former priest Francis DeLuca from abusing a child in the 1960s.
The decision came after the jury decided last week that the parish should pay $3 million in compensatory damages.
The accused former priest is not getting off lightly: He has been ordered to pay $27 million in compensatory damages and was ordered Wednesday to pay another $30 million in punitive damages.
Attorneys for the victim who filed the lawsuit say they don’t expect to collect any money from DeLuca.
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