ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - The case against a former Ann Arbor priest accused of sexually abusing an altar boy nearly three decades ago is one step closer to standing trial after it is due to begin a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said defrocked Ann Arbor Priest Timothy Crowley, 73, will learn dates for motions and a jury trail by the end of the day as he faces multiple sexual assault charges.
Crowley was charged in May 2019 with four felony counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and four felony counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection to alleged incidents that occurred between 1986 and 1990 at Jackson's St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Hillsdale's St. Anthony Catholic Church and Ann Arbor's St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church.
Testimony from Crowley's alleged victim as reported by Mlive said he was a 10-year-old altar boy in 1982 at St. Mary's in Jackson when he was encouraged to spend more time with the priest as family members believed Crowley was a good role model.
During their time together, the victim testified that Crowley often called him "a good boy" and would touch him as the two slept in bed together, stating "it was normal and natural."
The incidents originally occurred in Jackson, but continued at St. Anthony's in Hillsdale after Crowley's appointment. It was there that the victim testified that the priest began supplying him with alcohol and cigarettes.
The victim stated his family became aware of the encounters and reached out to an attorney in 1993. The Catholic Diocese reached a deal with the family where it paid the victim $200,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement and the dioceses would "take appropriate action against Crowley."
While the disgraced priest completed a two-year rehabilitation program, he continued to serve the Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage in Alaska until the allegations against him came to light in the early 2000s.
Crowley was removed from ministry in Anchorage in 2002, according to the Lansing Diocese. Over a decade later, he was defrocked in 2015.
Authorities in Michigan were able to track him down and arrested in Tempe, Arizona, but Crowley's case was originally dismissed in October 2019 after a preliminary examination found the charges failed to abide by the alleged crime's then six-year statute of limitations.
Nessel's office argued for the case in the Court of Appeals, stating that the there was sufficient evidence that Crowley coerced the alleged victim into sexual acts and that the victim suffered personal injury within the statute of limitations.
The Attorney General's office prevailed and the case was then bound over to circuit court.
"It is thanks to the victim-centered, trauma-informed investigation by the Michigan State Police and the staff in the Department of Attorney General that this predator was tracked down and brought back to Michigan to face his crimes," Nessel said. "I also want to thank the survivors who have come forward to share their stories and bring attention to the abuse that has been endured by too many children for too long."
