Father Luke Travers
Ordained: 1986
Removed: 2012
Assigned as follows:
- 1987-1997: St. Mary's Abbey (Morristown, NJ)
- 1998-2007: St. Mary's Abbey; Delbarton School (Morristown, NJ)
- 2008: St. Mary's Abbey (Morristown, NJ); Holy Trinity (New York, NY)
- 2009-2016: St. Mary's Abbey (Morristown, NJ)
- 2017-2019: Unknown
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Luke Travers:
Fr. Luke Travers, a Benedictine monk, was the headmaster at Delbarton School in New Jersey from 1999 through 2007 but taught there before and after that time.
According to media reports, in April 2011, a former student sent a letter to St. Mary's Abbey, which runs the school, alleging sexual misconduct by Travers as he was consoling him when his father was dying. The letter said the monk offered him alcohol, hugged and kissed him, professed his love, and said he wanted to run away with him when he came back to the school after graduating.
Another former student came forward alleging that when Travers was headmaster, he grabbed the boy's crotch and butt when he was about 14 years old in the 1980s. Amidst the allegations, the monk was removed from his position as a non-residential administrator at St. Mary's Abbey in Virginia, and ordered to live under restrictions that barred him from contact with anyone under 25.
In March 2012, a lawsuit was filed by two brothers who grew up on the campus of the Delbarton School where their father was a teacher. The suit claimed they were sexually abused by Travers while he was headmaster in the 1970s. He denied the allegations. In April 2012, Travers severed ties with the Benedictine order.
In June 2018, a settlement was reached with five men alleging abuse by five monks, including Travers at Delbarton School.
In July 2018, Delbarton School and St. Mary's Abbey, publicly acknowledged for the first time, the accusations of 30 individuals who have alleged abuse by 13 past or current priests and monks there, and one retired lay faculty member, over the course of three decades.
In 2020, new suits were filed accusing Travers and two other priests of sexual abuse. According to media reports, the victim claimed that the abuse took place on individual occasions at the Delbarton School between 1982 and 1989, starting when he was 14 years old and ending when he was 21.
Travers was last known to be working in the insurance industry in Livingston, New Jersey and using the name Leo Travers.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Paterson. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Paterson, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Paterson now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an email to adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.