Former priest sentenced after sex assault case

FORT COLLINS - A 44-year-old former priest was sentenced Wednesday after being found guilty of sex assault on a child.

Tim Evans was found guilty in March on two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and one count of showing a pattern of abuse. On Wednesday he was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison.

Evans was accused of sexually molesting a 17-year-old boy twice in 1999 when he was a priest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church in Fort Collins.

Specifically, Evans was accused of groping the young man's buttocks on one occasion, and in a separate incident, reaching below his waistline toward his groin.

In addition to the guilty verdict in Fort Collins, Evans was found guilty in Jefferson County of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy brought to him for counseling by the parents of the boy in 1996. For these charges he faces two to eight years in prison. His sentencing for the Jefferson County case will take place Thursday.

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput said Evans was removed from the priesthood after the first allegation against Evans surfaced in 2003.