Judge Rules Seton Hall Must Disclose Investigation into Handling of Sex Abuses

Seton Hall University must disclose a litany of documents to attorneys suing the Archdiocese of Newark over its handling of sexual abuse claims, a Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Avion Benjamin’s order will force the university to disclose more than 20,000 pages of documents to opposing counsel, including documents from a 2019 outside probe into abuse allegations at the school’s seminary and whether Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, the university’s president and a former seminary dean, properly reported them.

“These documents are going to reveal additional examples of systemic behavior within both the archdiocese and Seton Hall where these institutions failed to discipline priests accused of sexual abuse and ratified a culture that turned a blind eye to perpetrators who preyed on these vulnerable children,” said John Baldante, one of the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys.

Benjamin’s order, delivered verbally over about an hour Wednesday, would see the outside report released with some conclusions redacted and directs the university to hand over a trove of emails between it and the law firm that conducted the investigation.

Some emails that included the university, its lawyers, and the investigators could be redacted or withheld based on attorney-client privilege based on the judge’s order, said Baldante, whose firm represents about a third of plaintiffs in the consolidated case.

The judge’s order requires Seton Hall to produce the documents within 30 days, though the disclosures could be paused if the school or the archdiocese appeals the ruling.

Spokespeople for the university and church did not immediately return requests for comment. Baldante said Seton Hall has already indicated it would appeal.

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