Ex-Pennsylvania priest who molested boys after Mass pleads guilty

A former Pennsylvania priest pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually abusing two boys over many years — and often after Sunday Mass.

David Poulson, who was identified in a recent grand jury report as one of 301 “predator priests” who preyed on more than a thousand boys and girls, now faces a maximum of 14 years in prison when he is sentenced.

“Poulson assaulted one of his victims repeatedly in church rectories,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Shapiro said at a news conference. “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.”

Poulson also sexually assaulted this victim and another boy at a remote hunting cabin the priest owned with a friend in Jefferson County.

Shapiro said the cabin was off the electrical grid and 10 miles from the nearest road and Poulson would often watch horror movies on his laptop with the boys before he assaulted them.

The announcement came on the same day the Pennsylvania legislature was considering reforms to the state’s statute of limitations law, which is the reason why just two of the priests identified in the grand jury report have been charged with crimes.

Currently, the statute of limitations law in Pennsylvania allows victims of child sex abuse to come forward with criminal allegations until they are 50 years old. The age cutoff for filing civil claims is 30.

“It’s up to Scarnati,” Shapiro said, referring to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, a Republican with ties to the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which has lobbied against earlier attempts to reform the statute of limitations law.

Poulson, 64, of Oil City, Pennsylvania, has been a priest in the Erie Diocese for four decades, Shapiro said. He was charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors — and three of the charges are felonies.

The boys were assaulted about 20 times at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Fryburg and Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Cambridge Springs, Shapiro said.

The Diocese of Erie knew since at least May 2010 that Poulson was a predator, Shapiro said. But it did not report him to the authorities until September 2016 — after it has been served with a subpoena, Shapiro said.

It was a military chaplain at Fort Hood, Texas, who is now 23, who blew the whistle on Poulson, Shapiro said.

Standing behind Shapiro was a priest sex assault victim named Jim VanSickle, who was abused by another priest in the diocese.

Following Shapiro’s announcement, Diocese of Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico said in a statement he was “saddened by every aspect of this situation.”

“Many hearts have been broken, particularly those of the victims and their loved ones,” said Persico, who vowed to contact police with all reports of sexual misconduct and cooperate with any investigations.