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A former LDS Church bishop is behind bars for allegedly sexually abused two boys several years ago when they were teenagers in his congregation.

Erik Wayne Hughes, 51, of Mapleton, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Utah County jail on suspicion of forcible sexual abuse, dealing in materials harmful to a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor and tampering with a witness.

According to a probable cause statement from the Mapleton Police Department, an 18-year-old told police in April that when he was 15, he had been sexually abused by Hughes, who at the time was his bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

An emailed statement from church spokesman Eric Hawkins on Friday confirmed that Hughes "has been removed from any position within the church."

The teen told police that Hughes was "always interested in his personal growth and if he was going through puberty," the document says. On one occasion, Hughes gave the teen a white pill he believed was melatonin, but the pill made him "feel weird" and his perception of his surroundings seemed "disproportionate," documents say.

Though the teen had taken melatonin before to help him sleep, he said it had never affected him this way, and when he told Hughes he felt weird, Hughes told the boy he "must have given him the wrong pill and that it would not happen again," according to documents.

On another occasion, Hughes gave the boy a smoothie-type drink, which the teen said seemed to have a loose seal and "tasted bitter, so he shook it up," documents say. After the boy drank the smoothie, he told police, his body responded the same way as when Hughes had given him the pill.

The teen told police he remembers walking around the house and Hughes helping him to his room and into his bed. Hughes asked the teen if he wanted Hughes to take his sweatpants off, documents say, and the teen responded that he didn't need them off.

"The next thing [the teen] remembers, his pants were off," documents say, and Hughes was touching his groin area.

The teen told police he remembers dozing off briefly, and when he woke up, his underwear were off and Hughes was performing a sex act on him.

On a third occasion, Hughes gave the teen another pill he believed was melatonin, documents say. The teen had a similar reaction, according to documents, and Hughes "made" the teen perform a sex act on himself.

On Wednesday, police learned of a second alleged victim, who told police he had been sexually assaulted by Hughes as a 17-year-old in 2012, documents say.

He told police he had been "groomed" by Hughes at age 16. The boy would work for Hughes, who was his bishop at the time, and Hughes would "buy him expensive items" and "put money in his bank account," documents say.

On multiple occasions, Hughes "touched and measured his penis" and gave the boy Viagra, the second alleged victim told police.

Hughes touched the second alleged victim inappropriately and performed sex acts with him between 30 and 50 times while the boy was 17, he told police. Hughes and the teen would also exchange sexually explicit pictures, according to documents.

One time, the second alleged victim told police, Hughes invited him to travel to Las Vegas and stay with him during a business trip, documents say. While there, Hughes allegedly gave the boy a pill that made him feel "groggy," and Hughes performed a sex act on him.

The second alleged victim said that within the last month, Hughes had contacted him and said he was "being falsely accused of a crime."

"Hughes told him to keep silent about things he had done," documents say, and asked the young man how he would respond to different questions from police "related to the sexual abuse."

Hawkins said the LDS Church has "zero tolerance for abuse of any kind."

The church has "supported and cooperated fully with the law enforcement investigation," Hawkins wrote, adding that "anyone found guilty of abuse of this kind would also face serious church discipline, including loss of church membership."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims," Hawkins wrote. "We will continue to reach out to them and their families to provide support and love."

Hughes is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail. No charges had been filed in the case as of Friday.

Twitter: @mnoblenews