BishopAccountability.org
	Jury Told of Priest's Alleged Groping By Monte Whaley Denver Post March 21, 2007 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5483005 Fort Collins — A Catholic priest used his stature in the church to become close friends to a 17-year-old parishioner whom he later groped on two occasions at the priest's home, the alleged victim said Tuesday. The man, now 25, told jurors he was shaken by the actions of Timothy Joseph Evans but he was too intimidated by Evans' standing as a priest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins to tell his parents or authorities. "He was the priest," the alleged victim told jurors in Larimer County District Court. "They were the ones you are taught that they know everything. They are like celebrities." Evans, 43, faces charges including sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. First Colorado trial He is the first Catholic priest in Colorado to go to trial since a wave of clergy-abuse allegations surfaced nationwide in 2002, leading bishops to adopt sweeping reforms. The alleged victim told jurors that Evans grabbed him forcefully around his buttocks while at Evans' rectory home in Fort Collins after the two drank beer and watched a football game in January 1999. The much larger Evans also threw the boy onto his rectory bed in the spring of 1999, pinned him down and moved his hand to the youth's pubic area, the young man said. The man said he didn't tell anyone about the alleged abuse until he began dating a rape victim. He then realized what Evans did was wrong. "I was conditioned to think this was normal," the man said. Evans served at St. Elizabeth Seton from 1998 to 2002, when the archdiocese removed him from parish ministry. Recorded call played Jurors on Tuesday heard a recorded telephone conversation between the alleged victim and Evans in December 2004. Evans, while on the phone, admits to being obsessed with the man when he was younger and that he made mistakes in his dealings with the alleged victim. "I thought you needed love. ... I loved you foolishly," Evans said. But Evans denied he tried to have sex with the then- 17-year-old, saying his motives were misunderstood. Evans' attorney, Joseph Gavaldon, told jurors that Evans gladly obliged when the boy's family sought him out to help them with their son. "He felt responsible for him (the victim)," Gavaldon said. "He said to himself 'If a child needs help, I'm gonna try to help.' " Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.