Two Erie Catholic Bishops Present Different Approaches in Case of Priest

By Ed Palattella
Go Erie
May 10, 2018

http://www.goerie.com/news/20180510/two-erie-catholic-bishops-present-different-approaches-in-case-of-priest

Now-former bishop Trautman wrote 2010 memo on complaints about Rev. David Poulson, charged Tuesday with abusing two boys from 2002 to 2010. Bishop Persico, who took over in 2012, said he learned of memo in January.

On Tuesday, when he announced the filing of child sexual abuse charges against a 64-year-old priest in the Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro provided a rare look into how the diocese works at the highest levels.

On Wednesday, that look expanded.

The diocese’s current and retired bishops explained their involvement in the case of the priest, the Rev. David Poulson, accused of molesting two boys in separate and repeated incidents between 2002 and 2010.

As Bishop Lawrence Persico and retired Bishop Donald W. Trautman commented, they focused on what was one of the most explosive pieces of evidence that Shapiro disclosed against Poulson on Tuesday — a 2010 memo that Trautman wrote about complaints he had received about Poulson’s contacts with minor boys.