BishopAccountability.org
 
  Priest Sentenced to Second Term for Molestation

San Francisco Chronicle
September 21, 1996

A former North Coast Roman Catholic priest received a second eight-year state prison sentence yesterday for child molestation -- this time for abusing a 12-year-old boy at a Eureka church rectory in 1992.

The Rev. Gary Timmons, 56, will serve the time concurrently with an eight-year sentence he received September 6 in Sonoma County for molesting children on a camping trip.

The Eureka victim, now 17, said Timmons touched his groin area for several minutes at the St. Bernard's Church rectory in Eureka.

Timmons, who was sentenced yesterday in Humboldt County Superior Court in Eureka, had pleaded no contest to one count of felony lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14. At the time of his plea in July, Timmons apologized, saying "This whole process has been a very torturous one."

"The reason that I'm motivated to bring these things to a closure is the amount of harm, the amount of injury that's been done to many people beyond those who have voiced complaints -- people in my parishes, people in the community, people in my family and my friends," Timmons said.

Timmons apologized in court yesterday as well, said Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney David La Bahn. Timmons must report to the Sonoma County Jail on September 30, and will then be sent to San Quentin for processing.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.