Local former priest indicted

The Daily Reporter-Herald, Colorado/August 30, 2006
By Pamela Dickman

A Loveland man who is a former Catholic priest was indicted in Jefferson County for allegedly sexually assaulting a teen in his parish in the mid-1990s.

Timothy Joseph Evans, 44, faces similar charges in Fort Collins, alleging he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy while serving as a priest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church.

Evans has not entered pleas to any of the charges.

He turned himself in at the Loveland Police Department on Monday night — the same day a grand jury indicted him in Jefferson County.

The indictment alleges sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.

The document claims Evans sexually touched a 16-year-old boy whose parents had sent him to Evans for spiritual guidance.

When the teen began to question and research his religious beliefs and checked out a library book on the satanic bible, his parents asked him to meet with Evans. During counseling sessions, which lasted from May 1995 to May 1997, Evans allegedly inappropriately touched the teen, the indictment alleges.

The former priest, who was released on $25,000 bond, is scheduled to appear in Jefferson County district court Sept. 7.

But first, on Sept. 6, he is scheduled to appear in Larimer County district court for similar allegations.

In Fort Collins, Evans allegedly touched a teenage boy whom he had met at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, according to an affidavit filed by police in court. The teen worked at the parish and Evans became his spiritual advisor before the 1999 sexual assault, the affidavit alleges.

In Larimer County, Evans is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust, two counts of sexual assault pattern of abuse and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He has not entered a plea to the charges.

Attorneys have scheduled two hearings about evidence in the case — a move that usually follows a plea but in this case is coming first.

Evans was ordained in 1993 and was assigned to the Arvada parish 1993-1997.

He then became a priest at the Fort Collins parish, where he remained until 2002. A year later, the archdiocese removed him from active ministry.