Pattern of abuse by Cheverus priest revealed Data obtained after $5.2M settlement

PORTLAND – Court documents obtained after a $5.2 million settlement with 14 men who say they were abused by the Rev. James Talbot describe a pattern of sexual coercion, grooming and abuse by Cheverus High School’s former soccer coach.

The Jesuit priest would sometimes taunt his players until they stripped down to athletic supporters and wrestled with him, saying it was part of their conditioning, according to former students at Cheverus and Boston College High School.

That practice sometimes led to private, nude wrestling bouts in the locker room and repeated sexual abuse on and off campus, the men said.

Last week’s settlement included $1.5 million for one man who played on Talbot’s soccer team in the late 1980s. That is the largest financial settlement for any Maine victim of sexual abuse by a priest.

Talbot, who was removed from Cheverus in 1998 after a former student reported the abuse, now faces rape charges in Boston. He resides at a Jesuit residence center in Massachusetts and could not be reached Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed against Boston College High School and The Society of Jesus of New England, alleged that Jesuit supervisors and officials at Boston College High knew that Talbot had been molesting students in Boston when they transferred him to Cheverus in 1980.

Jesuit officials deny they knew about the abuse at the time, and last week’s settlement does not admit any prior knowledge of Talbot’s behavior.

While not named in the suit, Cheverus and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland also took part in the settlement.

Cheverus’ insurance carrier paid less than $300,000 toward the settlement, according to the school’s attorney. The insurance carrier for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland paid $75,000, a church spokeswoman said, because some alleged abuse took place while Talbot was filling in as a parish pastor in Freeport.

The cases settled last week raised questions about oversight at Cheverus.

“It is clear to me that someone should have known that they had a faculty member engaging in classic sexual grooming behavior,” said Roderick MacLeish, who represented one Cheverus graduate.

Several other former Cheverus students have said they were abused in the 1960s and 1970s by former track coach Charles Mailia, who was not a priest.

Cheverus’ president, the Rev. John Keegan, said the conduct was kept from officials at the school.

“Typically a person who has been abused doesn’t talk about it to anybody,” he said. “They don’t tell their parents, they don’t tell anybody. That’s why so many of these allegations are coming out 20 or 30 years after the case.”

Keegan said the school has learned to spot warning signs and has increased staff training and controls on teacher-student relationships.