BROOKVILLE — A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and making one of them say confession after the assaults was sentenced Friday to 2½ to 14 years in prison.

David Lee Poulson was sentenced in Jefferson County after pleading guilty in October to corruption of minors and child endangerment. He is one of two priests charged as a result of a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report that named almost 300 predator priests of abusing more than 1,000 victims over seven decades.

The hearing Friday lasted more than an hour including statements from two victims read by prosecutors and a brief apology from Poulson, who addressed the court before he was sentenced.

Poulson, 65, who served in the Diocese of Erie, told the court his actions were “criminal and sinful.”

Casey White, an attorney for Poulson, argued in court that he should receive house arrest or probation because he'd also done significant good during his time as a priest. White said the court was sentencing the Catholic church as a whole.

Poulson was immediately taken into custody at the sentencing.