BOSTON?Personnel files released Monday for a priest accused of sexual abuse show that church officials knew of allegations against him as far back as 1967 but continued to allow him access to children.

The documents kept by the Archdiocese of Boston also showed the Rev. Paul Shanley was in attendance decades ago at the meeting where the North American Man Boy Love Association was believed founded. NAMBLA advocates sex between men and boys.

The documents outline allegations of Shanley’s deviant behavior and the widespread knowledge of it by church officials.

The archdiocese, which had fought to keep the personnel file private, did not have any immediate comment on the information in the documents.

Shanley, 71, established a ministry for runaways, drug abusers and teenagers struggling with sexual identity.