A former Boy Scout troop leader accused of sexually assaulting young boys gave them alcohol and pornography and ordered them not to tell, threatening at least one victim with a handgun, according to police.

Police said David Kress, 52, of Thompson, Connecticut, sexually assaulted at least half a dozen boys ages 11 to 16 over a period of 20 years while leading Boy Scout Troop 66.

Victims told police Kress gave them alcohol and showed them pornographic magazines before raping them and asking them to perform sexual acts on each other, according to the warrant for his arrest.

The victims told police Kress would sexually assault them on Boy Scout camping trips, at his home in Thompson and at various houses where Kress was installing counter tops through his company New England Interior, the warrant says.

Kress told one victim he “had to take this to the grave” and pulled out a handgun in front of another boy, telling him the gun “was for his parents if he talked,” according to the warrant.

A victim told police that at one point, another scout leader walked into the bathroom while Kress was sexually assaulting him. According to the warrant, Kress said he was checking the scout for bruises, and the troop leader left.

Kress told police he has not worked with children in a decade. He has most recently been employed at Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts, where the troop used to go camping, according to the warrant.

In March of this year, Kress told his co-worker at Nichols College that he had been missing his shifts lately because he was depressed. He admitted to assaulting the boys and said he himself had been molested when he was young, according to the warrant.

When police confronted Kress about the assaults, Kress said “he could help himself by putting a bullet in his head” and was taken to the hospital for an emergency committal, the warrant says.

Kress, who is a member of the Thompson Zoning Board of Appeals, has been charged with three counts of employing minors in an obscene performance.

Thompson First Selectman Paul Lenky said the town is waiting to see how the court case unfolds before deciding whether to remove Kress from his position.

Kress' attorney could not be reached for comment.

Kress is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Nov. 26, according to the state judicial website.