A former Catholic priest in the Erie diocese has been charged for allegedly sexually abusing two young boys.

According to the diocese, David Poulson, 64, of Oil City, was charged on Tuesday with one felony count of indecent assault, one felony count of endangering the welfare of children, one felony count of corruption of minors, two misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and several misdemeanors.

The victims were eight and 15 years of age when the alleged abuse started.

A release from the state Attorney General’s office alleges that the Diocese of Erie knew of “Poulson’s sexual predator tendencies” as early as May of 2010, but that nothing was done to report him to authorities until September of 2016 “in response to a subpoena from the grand jury.

“The diocese even produced a May 24, 2010 secret memorandum, in which diocesan leaders confirmed complaints had been made about Poulson’s inappropriate contact with minors.” In the memo, Poulson is said to have admitted “being aroused” and sharing sexually suggestive texts with boys.

The Most Rev. Lawerence T. Persico, bishop of the Erie diocese, released a statement on Tuesday regarding Poulson.

“The 2010 report was flagged by the diocese’s independent counsel as a case where grooming behaviors perhaps when undetected,” Bishop Persico said in the release. “The diocese informed the Attorney General that it would be reviewing Father Poulson and attempting to contact the former student at issue in the 2010 report. The Attorney General’s Office did not object and indeed appreciated the diocese’s cooperation and investigative efforts.”

The diocese’s release also says that the student from the 2010 report declined to speak with anyone after a third party reported suspicions. Bishop Persico says he accepted Father Poulson’s permanent resignation in February, and removed him from all assignments, and prohibited him from any public ministry and from any contact with minors at that time.

“The time of protecting powerful institutions over vulnerable children is over, and anyone who abuses kids will have to answer to my office,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “Children are targeted by predators because they are vulnerable, they are young, and they struggle with shame, confusion, or fear. But once a victim finds the courage to come forward, law enforcement must take action.”

According to the AG’s office, Poulson began service with the Erie diocese starting at Bradford Central Christian High School in 1979. He served at St. Francis of Assisi in Bradford in 1979 as well.

Poulson then moved on to Gannon University in Erie in 1982, St. Francis of Assisi in Clearfield and St. Agnes of Morrisdale starting in 1997, at Clarion University and St. Michael’s in Fryburg in Clarion in 2000, at St. Bernadette and St. Anthony of Padua in Cambridge Springs in 2010, at Meadville Deanery in Meadville in 2012 and finally at the Presbyteral Council in Erie starting in 2014.

“Poulson assaulted one of his victims repeatedly in church rectories,” Shapiro alleged. “He made that victim go to confession and confess the abuse – to Poulson. This was the ultimate betrayal and manipulation by Poulson. He used the tools of the priesthood to further his abuse.”

According to the grand jury’s presentment, the assaults took place at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Fryburg and St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Cambridge Springs. The alleged abuse took place in the church rectories, usually on Sundays, after the victim served as an altar boy at mass and occurred more than 20 times.

The presentment also states that “Poulson also assaulted this victim and a second victim at a remote hunting cabin that he owned with a friend in Jefferson County. The cabin was off-the-grid and was located 10 minutes of the main road in a rural location. It lacked electricity, heat, or running water. Poulson would bring the youths to the cabin, watch horror movies with them on his laptop, and then assault them.”

“Diocesan counsel forensically imaged and later analyzed numerous electronic devices in addition to interviewing Father Poulson, with much of that information being discussed in the presentment,” Bishop Perisco said in his statement. “Indeed, the diocese located the cabin and provided text-message analysis and contact information for 21 potential victims to the Attorney General. The diocese publicly announced its suspension of Father Pulson after waiting for confirmation from state and local law enforcement that the suspension would not interfere with any law-enforcement investigation. The Grand Jury and the Attorney General then proceeded to uncover the details described in the presentment.”

In addition to the two victims for which Poulson is charged, nine other men made contact with the grand jury in the course of its investigation, saying that they had contact with him while they were minors.

“Poulson was a ‘cool’ young priest who befriended them, flirted with them, ‘wrestled’ with them, and ‘joked’ about his sexual preference for young boys,” the release states, adding that he “plied the boys with gifts, cash, dinners, and alcohol,” and that “in at least one of these cases, prosecutors believed evidence of a sexual assault existed, but it was barred on statute of limitations grounds.”