ERIE (PA)
Penn Live
October 17, 2018
By Ron Southwick
A former priest in the Diocese of Erie has admitted to sexually assaulting one boy and attempting to assault another boy, the state attorney general’s office said Wednesday.
David Poulson pleaded guilty to two felony crimes – corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children – in a hearing in Jefferson County Common Court.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who has led the grand jury investigation of clergy sex abuse across Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania, said the former priest assaulted a victim in church buildings. Citing the plea, Shapiro is urging lawmakers to revamp state law to help victims of clergy sex abuse take their cases to court.
“Poulson assaulted one of his victims in church rectories,” Shapiro in a news conference at the courthouse in Brookville. “He made that victim go to confession and confess the abuse – to Poulson. He used the tools of the priesthood to further his abuse. Today, Poulson is being held accountable and facing justice for his crimes.”
Poulson assaulted one boy repeatedly at two different churches and attempted to assault another boy at a cabin, the grand jury presentment found.
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