## Facts

- James E. Sheehan attended Salesianum School in Wilmington, Delaware (1961–1964), where Father Francis Norris (an Oblate priest) taught.
- Sheehan alleged that in April 1962 Norris sexually abused him in a car after offering him a ride home.
- Sheehan did not report the alleged abuse to the school or religious order at the time.
- Evidence at trial indicated the Oblates had notice of serious issues involving Norris, including alcoholism, a suicide attempt, and medical warnings recommending psychiatric hospitalization.
- Norris died in 1985.
- In 2007, Delaware enacted the Child Victim’s Act, 10 Del. C. § 8145, which eliminated the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual-abuse claims and created a two-year window to file claims previously time-barred.
- During the revival window, Sheehan sued the Oblates and Salesianum asserting negligence and intentional tort theories, including claims based on institutional hiring, retention, and supervision, as well as liability related to Norris’s conduct.

## Issues

1. Whether 10 Del. C. § 8145’s revival of previously time-barred childhood sexual-abuse claims is unconstitutional as impairing a vested right in a limitations defense.
2. Whether § 8145 revives only negligence claims or also revives intentional tort claims arising from childhood sexual abuse.
3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by excluding Sheehan’s general-causation expert without an on-the-record balancing of probative value against prejudice.

## Decision

- The Delaware Supreme Court upheld § 8145’s revival provision against the constitutional challenge.
- The Court held that § 8145 revives intentional tort claims as well as negligence claims.
- The Court held the trial court abused its discretion by excluding Sheehan’s general-causation expert without conducting the required on-the-record balancing.
- The Court reversed the judgment and remanded for a new trial.

## Legal Principles

- A defendant generally has no vested, substantive constitutional right in an expired civil statute-of-limitations defense that prevents the legislature from reviving time-barred childhood sexual-abuse claims.
- Under § 8145, the revival window applies broadly to civil claims arising from childhood sexual abuse, including intentional tort causes of action, not solely negligence.
- When ruling on exclusion of expert testimony central to causation, the trial court must expressly balance probative value against risks such as unfair prejudice or confusion on the record; failure to do so can constitute reversible error.

## Conclusion

The Delaware Supreme Court sustained the legislature’s authority to reopen time-barred childhood sexual-abuse claims, interpreted § 8145 to revive both negligence and intentional tort claims, and ordered a new trial because the trial court excluded key expert testimony without the required on-the-record evidentiary balancing.


Sheehan v. Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, 15 A.3d 1247 (Del. 2011)