MORRISTOWN − Facing potentially devastating punitive damages in the wake of a landmark $5 million compensatory verdict for a former student who said he was sexually abused by a monk at the Delbarton School, the headmaster of the exclusive boys' prep school testified that another large monetary award "could put us out of business."

The Rev. Michael Tidd's testimony came on Oct. 14 at the start of the punitive hearing phase of a civil trial pitting a 1977 Delbarton graduate against the school, the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey that oversees the monastery and school, and the Rev. Richard Lott, a former OSBNJ monk.

All of the defendants denied any wrongdoing. But last week, a six-person jury unanimously found the student's accusations to be true and that the abuse caused him lifel

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