Ex-Degrassi actor twice acquitted in local crimes, jailed for 3 months

A former Degrassi child actor, who was acquitted of murder and of aggravated assault involving a knifing outside a local tavern in March 2002, was sentenced to three months in jail and 18 months probation.

Tyson Talbot, who played friendly neighborhood child athlete Billy Martin in the popular TV series The Kids of Degrassi Street, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit robbery.

Talbot and several other people were accused of conspiring to commit a robbery between March 1 and 20 of last year, according to police documents.

Two others charged with Talbot have also been charged in a string of sensational, forcible-confinement robberies that took place last winter.

Talbot had previously been acquitted of murder in the beating death of 23-year-old Christopher Shelton outside a restaurant near Broadview Ave. and Gerrard St. East in the early hours of Nov. 29, 2002.

He was acquitted of attempted murder when the judge in the case ruled that prosecutors had not proved Talbot had used the knife in an aggravated assault, which took place outside a Danforth Ave. tavern in March 2002. The brutal attack left 44-year-old Sebastian Santacroce with a severe stab wound.

Talbot had been out on bail on the charge of attempting to murder Santacroce when he was charged with the murder of Shelton, which took him into custody again for another two years.

Last summer, a jury acquitted 32-year-old Talbot after hearing evidence he punched Shelton, who then fell and hit his head on the pavement, later dying in hospital from a blunt force head injury. Talbot testified he threw the punch in self-defense because he felt threatened by Shelton and his two friends.

Talbot, who has compiled an extensive police record — including convictions for robbery, theft, assault, possession of stolen property and escaping custody — was not always a volatile youth. When he first joined the cast of The Kids of Degrassi Street in the early 1980’s, other cast members and crew described him as personable, warm and full of potential.

In 1986, Talbot was cast as Jason Cox in Degrassi High, but quit after filming only three episodes.