James Talbot (rapist)

Last updated

James Talbot, SJ is a former American Jesuit priest, teacher, and coach who was convicted of raping multiple students over a period of several decades.

Abuse

In the 1970s, while serving as a hockey, soccer, and wrestling coach as well as a history teacher at Boston College High School (BC High), Talbot was accused of rape and other charges of sexual misconduct. In response, the Jesuits chose to move him to another high school, Cheverus High School, in Portland, Maine. In 2005, at the age of 67, he was convicted of several counts of abuse during his tenure at Boston College High School, and served six years in prison for the crimes. In a civil suit, 13 victims who sued the Society of Jesus and the high school received a $5.2 million settlement. At the time of his release, proceedings to laicize Talbot were still incomplete. [1] He was removed from the clerical state in 2013. [2] This case was one of several that are collectively known as the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal, and part of the larger Catholic Church sex abuse cases in the United States.

Talbot transferred from BCHS to Cheverus in 1980, where he remained until 1998, again in the role of history teacher and soccer coach in an all-male school. [3] In 1998 a student brought information to the bishop that her brother had been molested by Talbot, who by that time was molesting yet another student. [4] Talbot was released from prison for the BCHS charges in 2011, only to be charged for crimes committed at Cheverus. [5] In 2017, Talbot was extradited to Maine, [2] and in 2018 at age 80, was sentenced to two concurrent three-year sentences after pleading guilty to both gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact. [6] These charges both centered around the raping a nine-year-old boy at a church in Freeport, Maine. [6] [3] Between prison stays, Talbot resided at Vianney Renewal Center, a Catholic faith based treatment center in Missouri run by the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete to aid priests and brothers with personal difficulties. [7] He immediately began serving his 2018 sentence following his guilty plea. [3]

Talbot admitted to abusing "88 or 89" students altogether. One case is depicted in the movie Spotlight , which starred Michael Keaton in the role of Boston Globe editor Walter V. Robinson, who attended BCHS and who broke the story of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal in 2002. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Porter (Catholic priest)</span>

James Porter was a Roman Catholic ex-priest who was convicted of molesting 28 children; he admitted to sexually abusing at least 100 children of both sexes over a period of 30 years, starting in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana</span> Latin Catholic jurisdiction in the U.S.

The Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana, is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. The diocese was erected by the Vatican in 1918, and its current bishop is J. Douglas Deshotel. Covering St. Landry, Evangeline, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberia, St. Mary, Acadia, and Vermilion parishes with exception to Morgan City of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux), the diocese is divided into four deaneries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheverus High School</span> Private, college-preparatory school in Portland, Maine, United States

Cheverus High School is a private, Jesuit, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Portland, Maine, United States. It was established in 1917 and is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. It is named after Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, the first Bishop of Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Maine, United States

The Diocese of Portland is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church for the entire state of Maine in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salesian College (Rupertswood)</span> Independent secondary school in Australia

Salesian College is an independent Roman Catholic, co-educational secondary school located in Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. The College is a member of the Sports Association of Catholic Co-educational Secondary Schools (SACCSS).

This page documents Catholic Church sexual abuse cases by country.

The Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal was part of a series of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in the United States that revealed widespread crimes in the American Catholic Church. In early 2002, TheBoston Globe published results of an investigation that led to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and thrust the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy into the national spotlight. Another accused priest who was involved in the Spotlight scandal also pleaded guilty. The Globe's coverage encouraged other victims to come forward with allegations of abuse, resulting in numerous lawsuits and 249 criminal cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual abuse scandals in Catholic orders and societies</span>

As distinct from abuse by some parish priests, who are subject to diocesan control, there has also been abuse by members of Roman Catholic orders, which often care for the sick or teach at school. Just as diocesan clergy have arranged parish transfers of abusive priests, abusive brothers in Catholic orders are sometimes transferred.

The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Victoria is part of the Catholic clerical sexual abuse in Australia and the much wider Catholic sexual abuse scandal in general, which involves charges, convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders. The Catholic Church in Victoria has been implicated in a reported 40 suicides among about 620 sexual abuse victims acknowledged to the public after internal investigations by the Catholic Church in Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual abuse cases in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin</span>

The sexual abuse cases in Dublin archdiocese are major chapters in the series of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Ireland. The Irish government commissioned a statutory enquiry in 2006 that published the Murphy Report in November 2009.

The sexual abuse scandal in Phoenix diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States.

The sexual abuse scandal in Fall River diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland.

The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, U.S., is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States, Ireland and elsewhere. The Philadelphia abuses were substantially revealed through a grand jury investigation in 2005. In early 2011, a new grand jury reported extensive new charges of abusive priests active in the archdiocese. In 2012, a guilty plea by priest Edward Avery and the related trial and conviction of William Lynn and mistrial on charges against James J. Brennan followed from the grand jury's investigations. In 2013, Charles Engelhardt and teacher Bernard Shero were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. Lynn was the first official to be convicted in the United States of covering up abuses by other priests in his charge and other senior church officials have been extensively criticized for their management of the issue in the archdiocese.

Catholic sexual abuse cases in Australia, like Catholic Church sexual abuse cases elsewhere, have involved convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests, members of religious orders and other personnel which have come to light in recent decades, along with the growing awareness of sexual abuse within other religious and secular institutions.

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Canada are well documented dating back to the 1960s. The preponderance of criminal cases with Canadian Catholic dioceses named as defendants that have surfaced since the 1980s strongly indicate that these cases were far more widespread than previously believed. While recent media reports have centred on Newfoundland dioceses, there have been reported cases—tested in court with criminal convictions—in almost all Canadian provinces. Sexual assault is the act of an individual touching another individual sexually and/or committing sexual activities forcefully and/or without the other person's consent. The phrase Catholic sexual abuse cases refers to acts of sexual abuse, typically child sexual abuse, by members of authority in the Catholic church, such as priests. Such cases have been occurring sporadically since the 11th century in Catholic churches around the world. This article summarizes some of the most notable Catholic sexual abuse cases in Canadian provinces.

The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Europe has affected several dioceses in European nations. Italy is an exceptional case as the 1929 Lateran Treaty gave the Vatican legal autonomy from Italy, giving the clergy recourse to Vatican rather than Italian law.

Gerald Francis Ridsdale is an Australian laicised Catholic priest and sex offender. He was convicted between 1993 and 2017 of a large number of child sexual abuse and indecent assault charges against 65 children aged as young as four years. The offences occurred from the 1960s to the 1980s while Ridsdale worked as a school chaplain at St Alipius Primary School, a boys' boarding school in the Victorian regional city of Ballarat.

The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Latin America is a significant part of the series of Catholic sex abuse cases.

The Society of Jesus has had different episodes of Catholic sex abuse cases in various jurisdictions.

The sexual abuse scandal in the Salesian Order is a major chapter in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in various Western jurisdictions.

References

  1. ↑ "Priest who molested teens at BC High released". March 19, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Bodnar, Marissa (November 29, 2017). "Cheverus: Accusations against priest led to increased vigilance" . Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Doyle, Megan (September 24, 2018). "Ex-priest, Cheverus teacher goes to prison for sexually assaulting Freeport boy" . Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  4. ↑ Russell, Eric (December 1, 2017). "As James Talbot answers to sex charges, man who accused him years ago is in the courtroom". Press Herald. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  5. ↑ Bleiberg, Jake (September 25, 2018). "Former Maine priest pleads guilty to sexual assault of boy, confronted by victim in court". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Villaneuve, Marina (September 24, 2018). "Ex-priest with Boston ties sent to prison again for child sexual abuse". Patriot Ledger. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Ziner, Karen Lee (November 28, 2015). "Sex-abuse survivor, former R.I. man depicted in 'Spotlight' movie, tells his story". Providence Journal. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.