A state judge has ruled that Seton Hall University, a private Catholic research university in New Jersey, must turn over a trove of documents related to a 2019 probe into sexual abuse allegations.
The move is part of a lawsuit over the Archdiocese of Newark’s handling of the claims.
Judge Avion M. Benjamin ordered last week that the university must disclose over 20,000 pages of documents related to that investigation, which focused on the school’s seminary and whether the university’s president, Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, the former seminary dean, properly reported allegations of abuse.
The documents include the report, which was conducted by the law firm Latham & Watkins, and emails from the firm and the university about the probe.
“Survivors of child sexual abuse are entitled to know what this investigation revealed and what, if anything, Seton Hall and the Archdiocese of Newark did to protect children in response to this investigation,” said John Baldante, an attorney for the plaintiffs, a group of about 450 people who allege they were sexually abused by members of the clergy in the Newark archdiocese.
“We anticipate that these documents will reveal additional examples of systemic behavior within both the Archdiocese and Seton Hall where the institutions failed to discipline priests accused of sexual abuse and ratified a culture that turned a blind eye toward the priest perpetrators who preyed upon these vulnerable children,” the statement continued.
The university and church did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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