PORTLAND, ME — James Talbot, a former Catholic priest convicted of sexually molesting adolescents in Maine and Massachusetts after being uncovered by the investigation shown in the film “Spotlight,” died. He was 87.
Talbot, a former Jesuit, was named on a list compiled by the religious order of northeastern Jesuits who faced credible claims of sexual abuse of minors. Talbot died on February 28 in a hospice center in St. Louis, according to Mike Gabriele, a spokesperson for Jesuits USA East.
Talbot was one of the subjects of The Boston Globe’s 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé exposing priest sexual abuse, which was incorporated into the 2015 film “Spotlight.” The study found rampant sexual abuse and cover-up in the Catholic Church. Jesuits USA East made no comment about Talbot’s death.
He pled guilty in 2018 to heinous sexual assault and criminal sexual conduct for sexually abusing a 9-year-old boy at a Maine church in the 1990s. He was condemned to three years’ imprisonment.
Prior to his Maine conviction, Talbot served six years in jail after pleading guilty to raping and sexually abusing two Boston students. Along with his convictions, he has settled claims with over a dozen victims.
Talbot taught and coached at Boston College High School from 1972 to 1980 before moving to Maine and working at Cheverus High School in Portland until 1998.
Jim Scanlan, 63, a former student at Boston College High School, denounced Talbot’s abuse in Massachusetts. The Associated Press does not normally use the names of sexual assault survivors without their permission, which Scanlan supplied. His reports resulted in charges against Talbot.
Scanlan stated that he has spoken out to others who have been victimized by Talbot. He stated that he holds those in positions of power within the church liable for allowing Talbot to continue abusing children for many years.
Scanlan stated that he has attempted to deal with his hatred toward Talbot, but it has been a lengthy process.
“The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference,” Scanlan stated. “Maybe I just parked him away a long time ago, resolved I couldn’t change what happened.”
According to Jesuits USA East, Talbot had been a resident at the Vianney Renewal Center in Dittmer, Missouri, before undergoing hospice care. The center provides additional health care services as well as care for sexually abusive priests.
Talbot’s case represented a pattern of behavior in the Catholic church about sexual abuse and priests. Accusations against him date back decades, and throughout that time he was transferred to new jurisdictions.
Allegations of a cover-up extended all the way to Cardinal Bernard Law, the previous archbishop of Boston. The Globe investigation discovered that Law and his predecessors had moved abusive priests from parish to parish without informing authorities or parents. Law died in 2017.
The probe into the Catholic Church sparked broader questions about sex abuse in other religious groups, revealing abuse in other faiths like the Boy Scouts.