Priest's fate rests with jurors as alleged abuse case wraps up

[Ian David]

By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News
March 24, 2007
FORT COLLINS - Was it sexual assault or just hugging and horseplay?

In their closing arguments, defense lawyers for former Catholic priest Timothy Evans tried to convince a Larimer County jury Friday that the "physically demonstrative" man did not fondle a 17-year- old boy, as alleged.


Former priest Timothy Evans walks out of the courtroom for a recess Tuesday at the Larimer County Justice Center. Evans, 43, is accused of fondling a 17-year-old boy on two occasions in 1999. The accuser, now 25, lives in Ohio. (Is it just me, or does he look like Karl Rove?)

Prosecutors countered that Evans was "a manipulative, scheming, deceptive man" who abused his ultimate position of trust to use the boy for his own sexual gratification.

Evans is the first Colorado Catholic priest to be tried since sweeping allegations of clergy abuse surfaced nationwide in 2002, leading to broad reforms within the church.

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Evans allegedly committed the acts early in his tenure at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Fort Collins, where he served from 1998 until the Archdiocese of Denver removed him in 2002. He had given the boy a part-time job at the church and the pair allegedly spent hours alone watching televised football games and talking about the boy's "inability to love."

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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5439598,00.html