BROOKVILLE (PA)
GoErie.com
January 11, 2019
By Madeleine O’Neill
“You used your position as a man of the cloth to deceive young boys,” victim says of Rev. David Poulson, sentenced in Jefferson County Court.
Rev. David L. Poulson, a former priest in the Catholic Diocese of Erie who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys, was ordered to spend up to 14 years in state prison Friday at his sentencing in Jefferson County Court.
Poulson, 65, received the sentence of two and one half to 14 years of incarceration from Jefferson County President Judge John H. Foradora. The sentence was more than what the prosecution requested.
“These were children who trusted you,” Foradora told Poulson. “These were faithful parents who thought their children would be safe with a priest.”
Foradora quoted from Mark 10:13-16, in which Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs “to the little children.” Fordora also quoted from the Gospel verses in which Jesus said that anyone who would cause a child to stumble would be better off being thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck.
Fordora also criticized retired Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman, whom the judge said left Poulson in ministry. Poulson was forced to resign in February under Bishop Lawrence Persico, who took over as bishop of the 13-county diocese in October 2012.
“I just can’t figure out how anyone in a position of authority would have done that,” Foradora said. “The public was potentially at risk for eight years because of the bishop’s actions.”
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