NEW YORK/PENNSYLVANIA
Buffalo News
By Mike McAndrew
May 8, 2018
A priest in the Diocese of Erie was charged Tuesday with committing sex crimes against two boys, and the Pennsylvania attorney general said the diocese covered up the priest’s sexual predator tendencies for six years.
The Rev. David Poulson, 64, of Oil City, Pa., a priest in the Erie diocese for four decades until earlier this year, was charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors. His victims were 8 years old and 15 years old when the abuse started, according to Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
The Diocese of Erie knew since at least May 2010 of Poulson’s sexual predator tendencies but did not report him to authorities until September 2016 when it received a subpoena from a grand jury, Shapiro said. The diocese had kept secret a May 2010 memorandum in which diocesan leaders confirmed complaints had been made about Poulson’s inappropriate contact with minors and Poulson admitted being “aroused” by a boy, and sharing sexually suggestive texts with other boys.
The Erie Diocese was led by Bishop Donald W. Trautman – a former auxiliary bishop of the Buffalo Diocese and a Buffalo native – for 22 years until he retired in 2012.
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