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Man Who Was Sexually Abused By Erie Priest Awarded $2M

Keith Srakocic
/
AP
In this Jan. 11, 2019 file photo, David Poulson, center, a Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys, is taken away from court after sentencing in Brookville, Pa.

A Roman Catholic diocese in Pennsylvania has agreed to pay $2 million to a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest who made him say confession after the assaults.

The settlement with the Diocese of Erie was announced Tuesday by the victim's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.

The defrocked priest, David Poulson, was sentenced this year to 2 1/2 to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of one boy and attempted sexual assault of another.

Poulson is one of a handful of priests criminally charged as a result of a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation that detailed decades of abuse by 300 priests.

He was accused of abusing an altar boy more than 20 times in various rectories.

The diocese says it plans to comment later in the day.

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