WCPO Cincinatti
CINCINNATI – A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Fairfield Catholic priest to 90 months in prison Wednesday for molesting a 10-year-old boy.
Rev. Robert Poandl had requested a lighter sentence because he said he is dying of cancer.
Judge Michael R. Barrett actually delivered a harsher sentence than federal guidelines called for.
During the hearing Poandl maintained his innocence, and asked Barrett for mercy.
A Georgia man who said he was molested by Poandl in the 1980s, was also allowed to take the stand during the sentencing hearing. He asked Judge Barrett for the tougher sentence in the case the priest was convicted in.
“Father Bob is a child predator and a pedophile,” the 36 year old said.
Poandl was never convicted in relation to the accusations the man from Georgia made.
Poandl, who turns 73 in May, is likely to die before the end of the year, his attorney, Stephen J. Wenke, said in his plea.
Poandl has Stage IV urothelial cancer, Wenke said.
Barrett was considering a sentence of up to 96 months (eight years) based on the pre-sentence report. Poandl will now serve seven-and-a-half years.
Sentencing guidelines call for 41 to 51 months (roughly 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 years), the judge said.
The Georgia man was allowed to testify after a jury convicted Poandl of one count of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit purposes in a 22-year-old case last September.
The 32-year-old Cincinnati man in that case testified that Poandl raped him in 1991 on an overnight trip to a parish church in Spencer, W.Va. He said Poandl attacked him while he was sleeping in the parish rectory, and that Poandl apologized and said Mass the next day.
The accuser’s mother testified he did not tell his parents or anyone else about the attack for 18 years until 2009. The man said he suffered nightmares after the attack, experimented with LSD and cocaine, got hooked on Oxycodone and plotted to kill the priest and commit suicide.
Poandl is a member of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, a religious order serving rural communities. It is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, according to an archdiocese spokesperson.
In February 2012, Poandl was accused of sexual misconduct and was relieved of his ministerial duties, a Glenmary spokesperson said. The alleged incident took place nearly 30 years earlier when the victim was a minor.
After that accusation, Poandl lived under a safety plan at Glenmary’s Fairfield residence and was not allowed to function as a priest or wear the white collar.
Poandl was indicted in the West Virginia case 10 months later in November 2012. He was put under house arrest and required to wear an ankle bracelet, which the court monitors.
Poandl is prohibited from leaving the Glenmary residence except for legal or medical appointments and is always accompanied by at least one Glenmarian when he leaves the residence, the spokesperson said.
The Georgia man said it would only serve justice if Poandl served 10 years for the case involving a 10-year-old boy.