Provo police are asking for any possible additional victims to come forward.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Provo Police Department headquarters. A Utah County mental health counselor was arrested earlier this week after two former clients told police he manipulated them into exposing their breasts during therapy sessions.
A Utah County mental health counselor was arrested earlier this week after two former clients told police he manipulated them into exposing their breasts during therapy sessions.
One of the women told Provo police that the therapist, 55-year-old Shawn Talbot, had “used the guise of mental health therapy” multiples times to convince her that taking off her shirt and bra, or pulling up her shirt, according to a probable cause statement, was “necessary to show the victim could be ‘vulnerable’”
She said Talbot also convinced her to do “handstands in front of him after taking off her bra and untucking her shirt.”
The second woman alleged Talbot asked her to bend over in front of him, which exposed her chest and breasts, the probable cause statement said.
Talbot was booked into Utah County jail Tuesday on suspicion of committing three class B misdemeanor counts of voyeurism and released later that day. He told investigators that he provided state licensing officials with a voluntary statement, according to the probable cause document.
The Salt Lake Tribune generally doesn’t name people accused of crimes unless they have been formally charged but is naming Talbot in part because Provo police are asking for any possible additional victims to come forward.
Anyone who may have experienced “similar” requests from Talbot can call the department’s nonemergency phone number at 801-852-6210.
Alyssa Wood, an attorney representing the alleged victims, told The Tribune in a statement that her clients have shown “extraordinary courage in coming forward.”
“Therapists hold a position of profound responsibility and are entrusted with the care and well-being of their patients. When that trust is violated,” Wood said, “the harm is devastating.”
Practices ‘meant to empower’
Talbot didn’t deny the women’s allegations, a detective wrote in the probable cause statement, but the therapist said “these actions took place in a therapeutic practice” and were “meant to empower them.”
He also denied any “sexual motive,” but acknowledged that “what he did was not right” and “recognized the harm he caused.”
The probable cause statement indicates that Talbot was fired from his job at Utah Valley Counseling on June 30 for a “separate allegation of sexual abuse and multiple complaints of sexual harassment by his female co-workers.”
Though the detective noted Talbot said he submitted a statement to the Division of Professional Licensing, agency spokesperson Melanie Hall said Thursday she could not confirm whether licensors were investigating Talbot or taking action against his license.
As of Thursday evening, a public database showed Talbot’s license remained active, with no current disciplinary actions listed.
Hall said typically, the agency seeks to limit an accused offender’s license so they cannot practice until the criminal case is resolved. If the licensee doesn’t voluntarily agree to those limitations, Hall said the agency can call an emergency hearing to limit the license.
Past allegations
This isn’t the first time Talbot has been accused of inappropriate conduct with clients, Provo police wrote in the probable cause statement.
In 2020, Provo police learned Talbot “was alleged to have done very similar things to minor females at a residential mental health treatment facility.”
Detectives said the allegations in that case also involved “various ‘trust’ exercises,” such as telling a girl to lift up her shirt as high as she felt comfortable.
Those allegations are detailed in a lawsuit filed last August on behalf of the child that named Talbot and his then-employer, Alpine Academy in Tooele County, as defendants. The lawsuit also alleges Talbot had “sexually graphic” conversations with the plaintiff.
In a response to the lawsuit, Talbot’s attorneys denied the allegations. Alpine Academy’s attorneys asked that the claims against the academy be dismissed.
Third District Judge Robert Faust denied that request at a March hearing. The lawsuit remains pending.
Attorneys for Talbot and Alpine Academy did not immediately respond to The Tribune’s request for comment Thursday evening.
Talbot stopped working at Alpine Academy in September 2020, according to a response filed by the academy’s attorneys.