LEWISTON — An Auburn man is accused of sexually abusing a boy for more than three years starting when the boy was younger than 12.

On several occasions, Joseph Poulin, 48, of Riverside Drive, Auburn, touched the boy’s genitals over and under his pants, according to a detective’s affidavit filed in 8th District Court. The affidavit was submitted in support of a warrant for Poulin’s arrest last week.

Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Detective Thomas Slivinski wrote in his affidavit that Poulin sexually abused the boy, sometimes while the boy was in bed.

The boy met with a specially trained forensic interviewer at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties where he disclosed the abuse after notifying his parents. He first told a 12-year-old friend at school, who had encouraged him to tell his parents about the abuse, according to Slivinski’s affidavit.

Poulin was freed from Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on $5,000 cash bail Sunday. Conditions of his release include no contact with the boy or any minor.