Prosecutors Detail Fondling Incidents, Play Phone Call Tape
By JP Eichmiller
The Coloradoan [Fort Collins CO]
March 21, 2007
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/NEWS01/703210328/1002
The alleged victim in the trial of former Fort Collins priest Timothy Joseph Evans took the stand Tuesday, describing two incidents when Evans allegedly fondled him at the priest's city rectory home.
The alleged victim, now 25, said the first incident allegedly occurred after he and Evans, now 43, watched a Denver Broncos playoff game together in 1999. The two had met a year earlier when the alleged victim's family invited Evans, who was new to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, to dinner.
"He moved his hands from my back to my buttocks, lifting me to my toes," the alleged victim told the prosecutor about the incident that occurred while the two were hugging before the alleged victim left the house.
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| Tim Evans walks out of the courtroom for a recess Tuesday at the Larimer County Justice Center. Photo by V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan |
| What's next |
| Timothy Evans’ trial continues today at the Larimer County Justice Center. |
The alleged victim, then 17, said the priest told him he brought the incident on himself by placing his knee in Evans' groin area during the embrace.
The testimony marked the first day of the jury trial at the Larimer County Justice Center. The jury includes nine women and five men, including two alternates.
Evans is accused of sexually molesting a minor. He pleaded innocent to the charges in December.
The Coloradoan does not identify the names of alleged sexual assault victims.
The second alleged incident happened later that spring during a wrestling match in Evans' bedroom when the priest pinned him down and fondled him, reaching under his shirt at one point and then to his genital region.
Both alleged incidents occurred during Evans' tenure as lead priest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 5450 S. Lemay Ave., which lasted from 1998 to 2002.
The alleged victim said the relationship with his parents continued to fall apart after 1999, prompting him to move to Ohio later that year to live with relatives and complete his senior year of high school.
It was only after dating a rape victim in 2003 that the alleged victim said he was motivated to step forward.
Prosecutors played a half-hour tape of a phone conversation between the alleged victim and Evans that took place in December 2004 in which Evans apologized for the incidents.
"It was not my place to be your savior, and I probably did more damage than good," Evans said in the recording, which was coordinated by a Fort Collins police detective. "I apologize for that; you know I've paid a heavy price. I thought you needed someone to love you."
Later during the taped conversation, the alleged victim questioned Evans' sexual motivations in helping him.
"You're saying sex; I'm saying intimacy," said Evans in the tape. "I caressed you, I touched you, I loved you. I wanted you to feel loved, and I didn't know how else to do it."
After prosecution and defense attorneys provided their opening statements, the alleged victim took the witness stand for the remainder of the day.
Defense attorney Joseph Gavaldon began his cross examination of the witness late in the afternoon. Gavaldon questioned some of the witness' testimony regarding time alone with the priest and how Evans could fondle him while also pinning him down.
Charges against Evans include two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, one count of sexual assault on a child-pattern of abuse and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Evans remains free on a $100,000 bond.
Contact: JPEichmiller@coloradoan.com
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