FORT COLLINS — A former Roman Catholic priest imprisoned for sexually assaulting a teen in Colorado is up for possible parole.
The Coloradoan reports that 57-year-old Timothy Evans told the parole board Monday that he is “absolutely” guilty of abuse but has learned to identify his triggers for abusive behavior and has created a risk management plan through the treatment he’s received in prison. If paroled, he said he would be closely watched because his case is high profile.
It was the third parole hearing for Evans since he was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison in 2007 for sexually assaulting a boy who worked at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fort Collins, where he was the pastor.
The full parole board would have to agree to release Evans. A decision is expected to take several weeks.
Evans was one of 40 priests named last month in a report released by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office into an investigation of child sex abuse in the state’s three catholic dioceses. It found at least 166 victims.
The report said that Evans abused three children between 1995 and 1999 at Spirit of Christ Parish in Arvada, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins. He was laicized on May 3, 2013.
The report said there was “strong evidence in his file that since his seminary formation years (1985 to 1993) 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.”
For instance, the report found that Evans was sent home after his third year at the North American College in Rome “because he made his fellow seminarians uncomfortable.”
Colorado Sun staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.