A former Jesuit priest and Maine high school teacher indicted on sex abuse charges has settled a lawsuit with a man who claimed he was assaulted when he was between eight and nine.
James Talbot, 80, of Missouri, was indicted in November after Freeport police investigated allegations that he molested a former Freeport resident and member of St. Jude’s Parish 20 years ago.
According to court documents, Talbot has been indicted on a Class A count of gross sexual assault and a count of Class C unlawful sexual contact.
The Associated Press reports that the name of the victim has not been released, but the criminal charges align with details revealed in the civil case settled in June.
Fre e por t police issued a statement Wednesday saying it sought the indictment after receiving a report about abuse and conducted an investigation.
According to Freeport police, the alleged molestation occurred between May 1, 1997, and June 14, 1998.
“The results of the investigation led the Freeport Police Department to seek an indictment for several counts of unlawful sexual contact against Talbot,” the release states.
Court documents show that Talbot’s indictment was sealed at the request of Attorney for the State Jennifer Ackerman, and the court ordered the indictment impounded on Nov. 9. His attorney, Walter McKee, entered a motion Nov. 21 to unseal the indictment.
“To the extent that it was allegedly important at one time to ensure that (Talbot) did not flee upon becoming aware of the indictment, any such reason is no longer valid given (his) arrest,” McKee argued.
Talbot was arrested in Missouri and extradited to Maine. He was booked at Cumberland County Jail on Monday and remained there Thursday on $50,000 cash bail. He was expected to appear in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court today.
Talbot has already spent six years in prison for a sexual abuse conviction in Massachusetts.
The Boston Globe reported in 2002 that Talbot, who had coached wrestling at Boston College High School, was transferred by the Society of Jesus to Maine in 1980 and was removed from active ministry in 1998 after he was accused of molesting a student between 1984-85 at Cheverus High School in Portland.
According to later reports by the Globe, he was convicted in 2005 and served six years in a Massachusetts prison for raping and sexually assaulting two Boston College High School students in the 1970s.
WITH REPORTING by Times
Record staff Darcie Moore and Juliette Laaka. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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