GOLDEN, Colo.-
A defrocked Roman Catholic priest was convicted Monday of fondling a 16-year-old boy in a suburban Denver parish, two weeks after he was convicted in a similar case from another parish.
Timothy Joseph Evans, 44, was convicted in Jefferson County District Court of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. Prosecutors alleged he fondled a 16-year-old boy between 1995 and 1997 while assigned to the Spirit of Christ Parish in Arvada.
On March 26, Evans was convicted in Larimer County District Court in Fort Collins of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child with a pattern of abuse. A man testified that as a teen, he was molested twice by Evans in 1999 in the rectory of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church in Fort Collins.
Evans has denied wrongdoing.
He faces 10 years to life in prison when he is sentenced May 30 in the Fort Collins case and two to eight years in prison when he is sentenced May 31 in the Arvada case.
Evans was removed from parish ministry in 2002 and from active ministry in 2003. In a statement, Denver Archbiship Charles Chaput said the allegations prompted Evans’ immediate removal.
“As these judicial proceedings conclude, I offer my prayers that a process of healing might begin,” Chaput said.
Jeb Barrett, leader of SNAP, or Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, in a statement said the guilty verdict will help keep kids safe.
“We are also grateful to the brave survivor who found the courage to come forward and the wisdom to report to police, instead of church officials,” Barrett said.
