CHELSEA, VT – Former Saco Middle School Principal Richard “Rick” Talbot is expected to change his plea next month in relation to a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child.

A then-11-year-old student alleged last school year that Talbot grabbed her buttocks while hugging her. Staff at the Tunbridge Central School where he was working at the time believe he was grooming students for sexual abuse.

Talbot, 68, served as the Principal for Saco Middle School from 2003 to 2012, when he left to become the principal of Tunbridge Central School in Tunbridge, Vermont, a kindergarten through eighth grade school with about 120 students.

Talbot was put on administrative leave from the Vermont school on Jan. 20 and fired on March 2.

Talbot pleaded not-guilty to the charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child in May at Orange County Superior Court. Talbot is now scheduled to change his plea on Jan. 13, according to the court clerk. A call to Talbot’s lawyer was not returned by press time.

According to a police affidavit by Vermont State Police Det. Sgt. Scott Clouatre, Orange- Windsor Supervisory Union Superintendent Bruce Labs conducted an internal investigation on the allegations against Talbot, interviewing several students and staff members.

Labs said staff had witnessed Talbot hugging students, kissing their foreheads, massaging students’ backs, play tickling and grabbing the buttocks of female students, according to Clouatre’s report.

Staff members told the superintendent they thought Talbot’s behavior was inappropriate and it appeared he was grooming students, establishing an emotional connection and using casual physical contact to lower their inhibitions for sexual abuse, according to Clouatre’s report.

A note forwarded to the superintendent from a teacher claimed that Talbot stood behind some girls in a Zumba class, staring at their behinds as they bent over and said something to the effect of, “I am really liking this now.”

An 11-year-old student at Tunbridge Central School told police Talbot “did some pretty bad stuff ” to her and her friends. She told police Talbot asked questions that made her and her friends uncomfortable, held her hand and the “worst thing he did” was hug her and grab her buttocks.

The girl stated that Talbot would call her “his favorite girl” and hug her in the mornings when she arrived in school. She said she stopped hugging him back when he began to grab her buttocks while hugging her.

The girl told police Talbot would take her out of class to do work in his office, saying that she deserved a break from classes and close the door when the two of them were alone in the room.

The girl told police that Talbot would give her candy and share his lunch with her. She said he frequently chose her when treating students to pizza.

The secretary at Tunbridge Central School told police she saw Talbot give the 11-year-old girl a hug in the school hallway, rubbing up and down her back, cupping her buttocks and heard him say, “There’s my girl, there’s my girl,” kissing her on the forehead before letting her go.

The 11-year-old girl told police that Talbot’s touch was unwanted and it made her feel “scared and uncomfortable.”

Several female students said they were uncomfortable with Talbot violating school rules by hugging them and giving them candy, according to Clouatre. They said they were afraid to say anything about Talbot because he was the principal and they were afraid he would expel them.

Talbot has been ordered not to enter the Tunbridge Central School grounds, not to have contact with the girl who has alleged the inappropriate behavior and not to have unsupervised contact with minors, according to court documents.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].