Former Northern Colorado Priest Sentenced for Sex Abuse Set for Parole Hearing

By Sady Swanson
Fort Collins Coloradoan
November 27, 2019

https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2019/11/27/ex-colorado-priest-who-sexually-abused-teens-eligible-parole/4308058002/

Tim Evans, right, and his lawyer, Erik Fischer, left, walk out a preliminary court hearing at the Larimer County Justice Center in January 2006. (Photo: Coloradoan library)

A former Fort Collins Catholic priest serving three sentences in prison for sex abuse is up for parole.

Timothy Evans, now 57, was sentenced in 2007 for three sexual assault cases — one in Larimer County and two in Jefferson County — for sexual abuse that occurred while Evans was a priest in three different parishes.

His hearing is set for Monday morning at Fremont Correctional Facility in Canon City. Hearings begin at 8 a.m. Inmates can choose to decline their hearings.

He is currently serving three sentences — 14 years to life, 2 years to life and 4 years — in the Fremont Correctional Facility.

Evans was first eligible for parole in January 2018, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. Evans was one of four priests from different parishes in Fort Collins and Loveland named in a special report from the Colorado Attorney General's Office released last month detailing credible claims of abuse by Catholic priests and the Archdiocese of Denver's handling of the acts.

Evans' case was the most recent case in Larimer County, and the only one in the county that resulted in criminal charges.

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Evans was the pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fort Collins when he abused a teen from 1998 to 1999. The teen reported the abuse in 2004, after Evans had already been removed from the ministry and after other sexual abuse allegations came to light the year prior.

Two teens in Jefferson County separately reported Evans abused them in 1995 and 1996 at two different parishes. The first victim reported the abuse in February 2003, according to the report.

As early as 1987, the Denver Archdiocese "knew about and failed to investigate serious and recurring personal relationship, boundary, and sexual issues that indicated he may engage in sexual misconduct with children," the report states.

Evans' file detailed conduct concerns at seminary that prompted the rector to deem him "not suited for the seminary environment." Evans' file also noted concerns from a classmate who believed “Evans should not be ordained because he would misuse the priesthood in the parish."

Evans was asked to leave the seminary in 1990 and was sent to back to the Denver Archdiocese to complete “carefully supervised pastoral internship” with attention paid to “relational dynamics.” The supervising pastor informed the Denver Archdiocese of two incidents where Evans used inappropriate judgement in relationships with teenage male parishioners.

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The archdiocese moved Evans to another parish for an additional pastoral year because the supervising pastor deemed Evans was not ready to be ordained.

A year later, the Denver Archdiocese received an evaluation declaring Evans' "relationship problems were 'fixed,' " and he was then ordained.

The Fort Collins victim's family said they knew of two other victims who did not want to press charges, and the report says while the archdiocese notified its insurance carrier about them, it did nothing to investigate or contact potential victims to offer counseling or other care.

Northern Colorado priests named in abuse report

John V. Holloway, a pastor at St. John the Evangelist in Loveland, abused three boys between 1970 and 1972, according to the report, which details a total of six victims statewide from 1962 to 1982 associated with Holloway. The Loveland cases were reported in 1991, 1993 and 2002, but Holloway died 11 years before these allegations came to light.

Harold Robert White was dubbed by the report as "the most prolific known clergy child sex abuser in Colorado history." He is believed to have abused at least 63 children — including nine in a Loveland parish — starting from before he was ordained in 1960 and continuing over 21 years in at least six different parishes. He was removed from ministry in 1993, defrocked in 2004 and died in 2006.

Charles Brown was assistant pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fort Collins when he abused a boy from 1962 to 1966, according to the report. Brown was transferred to a parish in New Mexico in 1987 and retired in 2002. Brown is believed to be alive.

Coloradoan content coach Rebecca Powell contributed to this report.