Fr. Thomas R. Bevan
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Ordained: 1963
Removed:2009
Laicized 2016
Assignment History
- 1963-1974: Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Middle River, MD)
- 1975-1976: St. Ignatius Church (Baltimore, MD)
- 1974-1979: St. John the Evangelist Parish (Frederick, MD) and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary (Emmitsburg, MD)
- 1979-1990: St. Mark (Fallston, MD)
- 1991: Leave of Absence
- 1991-1992: St. Mary (Cumberland, MD)
- 1992: St. Patrick (Mount Savage, MD)
- 1992-1997: Priestly Life and Ministry for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops
- 1997-2009: St. Patrick (Cumberland, MD)
Summary of Abuse Allegations Against Father Thomas R. Bevan
Father Thomas R. Bevan was a Catholic priest who worked in multiple parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. Fr. Bevan is listed on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors list. In April 2023, Maryland’s Attorney General released a report alleging 156 Catholic clergy members sexually abused at least 600 children over six decades. The report lists the names of the abusers, including Father Thomas Bevan. According to the report, in 2005, a man reported that he was sexually abused by Bevan as a 10-year-old in 1972 when he was a student at St. John the Evangelist Elementary School and a St. John altar boy. He claims Bevan took him out of class a few minutes early on a Friday afternoon and asked if he wanted to go to his cabin in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The victim said he would need his mother’s permission, who consented. At the cabin, Bevan gave him crème de menthe and then fondled him as he began falling asleep. Bevan told the boy, “it is ok because I’m a priest.”
On another trip to the cabin in 1972 or 1973, when altar boys from a previous parish of Bevan’s were present, Bevan gave the boys alcohol and “had the altar boys undress and streak while he watched them.” Another victim had his father come pick him up, and Bevan did not invite him back to the cabin again. The archdiocese reported that allegation at that time to the Frederick County State’s Attorney and investigated the claim. The archdiocese determined that there was insufficient evidence to remove him at the time.
In June 2009, a man reported to the Archdiocese of Baltimore that he was sexually abused by Bevan in approximately 1976 when he was in 4th grade. He was an altar boy at St. John, and Bevan took him to the Emmitsburg cabin three times. The archdiocese finally removed Bevan from the ministry on August 19, 2009, in response to the allegations. The AG Report states that Bevan took the victim on a trip to a cabin; he was the only child there. Bevan blindfolded the victim with a bandana and forced the victim to perform oral sex on him. Bevan called this a “game.” He then took the victim into the house on the property and gave the victim vodka and orange juice before again blindfolding him and forcing him to perform oral sex. On the third trip, he was the only child again. In the house and not the cabin, Bevan again gave the victim vodka and orange juice, again blindfolded him, and again orally raped him. Bevan told him not to tell anyone and then treated him meanly at school and the parish. After the third trip, the victim refused to continue serving mass when in church.
In August 2009, a man reported that he was sexually abused by Bevan at his Emmitsburg cabin “on dozens of occasions” between 1972 and 1975 when the victim was between 10 and 13 years old. At the time, the victim was a student and altar boy at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He said that on “many trips,” Bevan picked him up and slid the boy into Bevan’s underwear so that Bevan’s penis was touching the boy’s buttocks. He said Bevan would then tickle him. The victim said this occurred approximately two dozen times. He also said that on one of his last trips to the cabin, he told Bevan that he wanted to call his parents and go home, but Bevan said it was “too late” and that he would have to return to the cabin. The Archdiocese made the mandated report to authorities.
Another victim in 2009 reported that he was sexually abused by Bevan. He went to Bevan’s cabin on several occasions between 1971 and 1973, when he was 12 or 13 years old. The victim was an altar boy and choir boy at Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the time. Bevan asked him to do work at Mount Carmel and his cabin. At the church, Bevan tickled and wrestled with him while he had two other students hold him down. Bevan also tickled and wrestled with him at the cabin. While tickling or wrestling, Bevan would put his hands down the victim’s pants and fondle him. The Archdiocese made the mandated report to authorities. The Archdiocese reached a financial settlement with the victim in July 2017.
In September 2009, a man reported that he was sexually abused by Bevan when he was an altar boy at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1973 and 1974. He rode with other boys in the church bus to the cabin – all the new altar boys. His father was also there. All of the boys were naked, and many of the adult men were naked as well. Notes of the victim’s account state: “Clothes taken off by other boys, toothpaste smeared all over penis, genitals, buttocks.” A group of adults was sitting on the porch drinking beer. He found his father, and they left in the middle of the night. The victim’s mother said he told her that “Bevan asked boys to run around naked” and that “[a]nother priest was sitting and smiling.” She witnessed Bevan rub his hands up and down her son’s face at a different points. There is no indication that this was reported to law enforcement authorities or otherwise addressed by the Archdiocese.
Bevan resigned on November 19, 2009, and the archdiocese permanently removed Bevan’s faculties as a priest on November 19, 2009. More allegations were reported in 2009 that were deemed credible, and Bevan was charged on January 22, 2010, in the Circuit Court for Frederick County. Bevan entered an Alford plea—admitting that the State had facts sufficient to prove his guilt, though not actually admitting the allegations—to one count of child abuse. He received a suspended 10-year prison term and was placed on 18 months of home detention with five years of probation. He was also required to register as a child sex offender, undergo mental health evaluation and treatment, take polygraph examinations, and have no contact with any victim or any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16. On August 16, 2016, Bevan was laicized.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Maryland, contact our office today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse nationwide. We can help. Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.