WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – A former priest in Ann Arbor pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Timothy Crowley, 74, pleaded guilty in Washtenaw County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Aug. 23. Crowley had been a priest at St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor. He was arrested in 2019 in Tempe, Arizona.
The plea agreement includes serving five years of probation and requires Crowley to spend a year in jail. He will also receive sex offender treatment, and have to register as a sex offender.
He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2023, in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
The attorney general’s office began an investigation into clergy abuse at Michigan’s seven Catholic dioceses in 2018. Michigan State Police and other law enforcement agencies have assisted.
Criminal charges have been issued in 11 cases throughout Michigan. Convictions have come down in nine of those cases. Two other defendants are pending extradition from India.
“This plea will mark the ninth straight conviction by my department’s clergy abuse investigation team who have worked tirelessly on behalf of survivors in this state,” Nessel said. “We are grateful to have obtained some measure of justice on this matter and many others, further breaking down the walls of silence which often surround sexual assault and abuse.”
Anyone who wants to submit information to the attorney general’s clergy abuse investigation team can visit the department’s website, call the hotline at 844-324-3374, or email the clergy abuse team at aginvestigations@michigan.gov.