A Sharon man police say molested two boys for years was charged Monday with rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Dean Leroy Custer, 45, of 177 Logan Ave. was charged with four counts of rape and two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; he was arrested on a warrant at 11:22 a.m. at the Mercer office of Mercer County Children and Youth Services, police said.

According to a police affidavit, a 10-year-old boy told authorities in June 2000 that Custer had kicked him several times in the leg. The boy said he put his arm along his leg to defend himself, and he was left bruises on both his leg and wrist, the report said.

The boy also told police that he and his older brother, now 19, were victims of sexual assaults by Custer, his mother's paramour.

Sometime in 1994 or 1995, Custer began a pattern of repeated sexual abuse, according to the boy, who described the acts in detail.

He said Custer forced him to fondle and stroke him and to watch as he and his mother had sexual intercourse.

Police spoke with the 19-year-old, who initially denied having any contact with Custer, but subsequently admitted Custer had sodomized him and his younger brother. Custer took the boys to a trailer he owns in Masury, where they were also abused, the report said.

According to the affidavit:

Shortly after the initial investigation in 2000, the 10-year-old was removed from the home. The older brother, who was also removed, was unwilling to provide details regarding the abuse, which stalled the investigation.

In February, Children and Youth scheduled the 10-year-old to take part in a forensic interview at UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, when he again began disclosing details of the abuse. The boy described being forced into oral sex and his statements about being forced to watch Custer and his mother were consistent with what he had said in 2000.

Children and Youth conducted a hearing at which the 10-year-old testified before Judge Thomas R. Dobson, who ordered the other children removed from the household.

During April and May, police and Children and Youth employees located the 19-year-old, who still didn't want to talk about the alleged abuse, fearing retaliation by Custer. But on July 23, the 19-year-old agreed to make a statement. He provided an hourlong taped statement, outlining years of repeated abuse of him and his younger brother.

He said the abuse began when he was about 9 years old and lived in Willow Village in Sharon. Custer entered his bedroom, told him to undress and forced him to perform sexual acts, telling him they were natural. He said he couldn't remember a week going by without some sort of molestation.

The incidents usually occurred at night while the mother was asleep, and Custer would enter the boys' room and wake them. He also took them to his mobile home, where they would look at pornographic material before engaging in sexual acts. The acts ceased when the older boy was about 15 or 16. He would pretend to be asleep and Custer would then wake the younger brother. The older boy told police he was never forced to perform sex acts with his mother, but Custer had threatened that.

Custer was taken to Mercer County Jail after failing to post $100,000 bond; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 7.