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	Archdiocese Settles Abuse Suit for $300,000 By John C. Ensslin Rocky Mountain News April 11, 2008 http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/11/archdiocese-settles-abuse-suit-for-300000/ An Ohio man who was sexually abused as a teenager by his parish priest settled a lawsuit this week against the Archdiocese of Denver for $300,000, his lawyer said Thursday. The settlement reached Tuesday also includes a letter of apology from Archbishop Charles Chaput and a statement to be read to the parishioners of St. Elizabeth Seton in Fort Collins, where Timothy Joseph Evans was a priest until the Archdiocese removed him in 2003. In May 2007, a Larimer County District Court judge sentenced Evans to 14 years to life for sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and for a pattern of abuse. Evans also was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting another boy in Jefferson County in 1996. Nic Gerber, 26, of Columbus, was a 17-year-old member of the parish in 1999, when Evans fondled him during a wrestling match on a bed in the church rectory in Fort Collins. Evans later grabbed the youngster's buttocks with both hands while hugging him goodbye. Until Thursday, Gerber had been known only as "John Doe 10" in the lawsuit he filed against the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese released a statement that confirmed the settlement without mentioning the dollar amount. "It is a well-established fact that the moment the Archdiocese received any allegations of inappropriate contact between Evans and a minor, the Archdiocese immediately removed Evans from ministry," the statement read. Contact: ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291.
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