Evans Will Spend Next 18 Years In Prison
TheDenverChannel.com
May 31, 2007
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13419678/detail.html
Golden, Colo. — A former priest had more prison time tacked onto his sentence when he was sentenced again, for a second case of sexual assault, Thursday morning.
Timothy Evans, 44, was convicted of sexual assault by a person in a position of trust in both Larimer and Jefferson counties.
In Jefferson County on Thursday, Evans was sentenced to four years for sexually assaulting a 16- year-old boy who went to him for counseling in 1996.
That four-year sentence will be served consecutively with the 14-year sentence that was handed down Wednesday in Larimer County. That means that Evans will spend the next 18 years of his life behind bars.
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The difference between the Larimer County and Jefferson County sentences is that the offense in Jefferson County occurred before the sentencing structure was changed. The Larimer County incident occurred after the penalty for sex assault on a child became more stringent.
Larimer County also had sentencing enhancer because, since the incident occurred after the incident in Jefferson County, proscutors were able to prove a pattern of abuse, which carries a stiffer penalty.
Several people spoke in Timothy Evans favor Thursday at his sentencing. One woman called him an intelligent and highly gifted human being. Another called him caring and compassionate. All three who spoke for him were friends of his who had sought his counsel as a Catholic priest. They asked judge for leniency, saying that as an incarcerated man, Evans can't help people who need help.
During the Jefferson County trial, the jury also heard about three incidents of similar conduct with other young men, two teens and one a young adult youth pastor at the parish where Evans was assigned.
Nick Gerber, the third known victim of sex assault, said that he was 17 when Evans molested him. He attended St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Fort Collins and he looked up to Evans as his priest.
"It will be difficult for the Evans family to lose a son and a brother. But I too am a son and a brother who was lost for a long time as a result of this master manipulator," Gerber said.
Gerber said that Evans used his trust and love, and most offensively, his faith, to perpetuate his crimes.
The young man who the victim in the Jefferson County case was not in court Thursday because, according to prosecutors, he is "very much a young man struggling due to this violation of trust."
Following Thursday's sentencing two of the young men who had been victims of Evans' said that there had been reports of suspicious behavior in every parish where Evans had been assigned.
The judge said that she can't envision a more egregious breach of trust.
"Nothing is more sacred between a priest and his flock," said District Court Judge Margie Enquist.
Prosecutor Zach Phillips asked for the maximum sentence, and also that it be served consecutively with the Larimer County sentence, saying, "Tim Evans has preyed on young men using his power and their faith to victimize them. He has exhibited many years of deviant and illegal behavior."
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