Convicted Priest Gets 7 1/2 Year Prison Sentence

WLWT
February 13, 2014

http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/cincinnati/Convicted-priest-gets-7-1-2-year-prison-sentence/24429258

[with video]

A Cincinnati-area priest convicted of taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago was sentenced to prison Wednesday.

Federal jurors found Robert Poandl guilty in September of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex. He was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.

Poandl could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

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Prosecutors say the priest from the suburban Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., in 1991 and raped him while visiting a church there.

Poandl's attorney denied those allegations, and Poandl himself denied them during the sentencing hearing.

Poandl said he had “never, ever abused anyone,” and “I hate abuse, any kind of abuse,” and he is “repulsed by the notion of child sexual abuse.” He claimed to have put himself through multiple lie detector tests and passed. He told the judge “I need your mercy on me.”

David Harper, now 32, waited until 2009 before telling law enforcement officials in West Virginia that he'd been abused.

In court, Harper said the abuse “set off a nuclear bomb in his psyche.” He said he struggled with substance abuse and anger as a result of what happened.

"I am speaking now in hopes to bring effective change,” Harper said. “I really did not want to do this but I felt it was my duty and my calling."

Harper said he considered killing Poandl and came close to “blackening his own soul by seeking vengeance.” He said Poandl “preyed on children” and called on Poandl to repent and confess what he had done.

Harper hopes what happened to him, doesn't happen to other children. His words are directed to the Pope Francis and Catholic Church.

"This is about justice and protecting children, which should all matter to the Catholic Church,” Harper said.

WLWT News 5's Andrew Setters said another person who claimed he was abused by Poandl appeared at the sentencing Wednesday and asked to speak.

Jeffrey Hutchinson said that when he was about 12 years old, he was touched inappropriately by Poandl. He lived in Georgia at the time. He said his parents trusted Poandl.

Two nephews of Poandl, Frank Poandl and Christopher Poandl, testified that they thought he was innocent. “If you want to send an innocent man to jail, send me,” Frank Poandl said.

Both testified that they only knew their uncle as a wonderful man and that they traveled with him on several occasions.

Poandl’s sister, Patricia Lapointe, said he was the “kindest, most gentle, most honest person I know."

Poandl's attorney said his client has been undergoing treatment for stage-four cancer.

Judge Michael Barrett sentenced Pondl to 90 months in prison and stated that his medical condition is the only reason he did not give him the maximum sentence of 10 years.

“The man is a convicted pedophile he needs to serve time, so knowing the judge also agreed was huge,” victim’s mother Barb Harper said.

"I want to help those most in need of it. It is not enough to pray for them,” David Harper said. “Real reform is needed and not just rhetoric which appears to change the perception of the Catholic Church without really changing anything.”

Barrett ordered Poandl taken into custody immediately because of the risk that someone in Poandl’s situation could commit suicide.