Jury awards New Jersey man $2.4m after priest abuse

A New Jersey man says a $2.4 million award for sexual abuse by a Catholic priest will probably never be paid but is important symbolically. A US District Court jury in Delaware decided the Rev. Damian Galligan, a priest who practiced in the New York area from 1977 to 1981, should pay the award to Brian Elliott, 44, of Cedar Knolls, N.J. Elliott testified in a civil lawsuit brought under a 2007 Delaware law that Galligan befriended his family and showered him with gifts while he was secretly sexually molesting him and an unknown number of other boys. Some of the abuse took place on a trip to Washington, during which they stayed in Delaware. The 2007 law permits victims of sexual abuse who are prevented by statutes of limitation in other states to file suit in Delaware if they can prove some of the sexual abuse took place within the state, The News Journal of Wilmington reported Monday. Galligan was not present at the trial. The jury saw videotaped deposition in which Galligan admitted sexually abusing Elliott and two other boys. The former Marist made the admission in 2012 at a retirement home where he lives in St. Louis. During the interview, he admitted abused the boys but said he did think it was a crime at the time. The jury award -- $1.4 million in compensation and $1 million in punitive damages -- will likely go unpaid because Galligan has no significant personal assets to pay the debt. Elliott said after the verdict it was an "extremely important symbol."