One of my colleagues was convicted of rape and served several years in prison in the 90s. 

I discovered this purely by chance and have since confirmed that it's definitely, 100% true. I don't think that the company is aware of his conviction, although I have no way of telling. 

I don't want to work with him or even see him anymore due to my own strongly held feelings on the subject (wife was sexually assaulted, young daughters), and I'm wondering how best accomplish this in a professional manner. 

I accept that some will see my inability to work with this person as evidence of unprofessionalism and I can understand this, however I personally feel that this is a special circumstance and also indicative of a failure of company HR policy on multiple levels.

**I don't think I can work with this person anymore. How can I change my circumstances to avoid continued working with this individual in a professional manner?**