BishopAccountability.org

Jury Considering Whether Priest Raped Boy in 1991

Columbus Dispatch
September 20, 2013

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/09/20/jury-considering-whether-priest-raped-boy-in-1991.html

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio priest took a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia and raped him more than two decades ago, a federal prosecutor told jurors yesterday. The defendant’s attorney denied that the boy even made the trip.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Oakley and the attorney for Robert Poandl offered their closing arguments in the trial of Poandl, from the suburban Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners.

The Roman Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to a charge of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex.

Defense attorney Stephen Wenke told jurors that the allegations are false and that the priest did not take the boy on the trip to Spencer, W.Va., in August 1991.

Prosecutors say the priest told the boy’s parents he needed someone to ride with him to keep him awake and navigate, and then raped the boy after the two arrived at the West Virginia church.

The accuser did not report the alleged abuse until he told West Virginia authorities in 2009.

Jurors deliberated about two hours yesterday afternoon and were to resume this morning.




.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.