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Tri-State priest challenges conviction in child-sex case
By Brian Hamrick
WLWT
January 21, 2015
http://www.wlwt.com/news/tristate-priest-challenges-conviction-in-childsex-case/30834358
[with video]
CINCINNATI (WLWT & AP) —A Hamilton County priest convicted of taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex in 1991 is challenging his conviction and sentence in a federal court.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati heard arguments Wednesday on Robert Poandl's appeal.
He was convicted in 2013 of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex.
Prosecutors said the suburban Cincinnati priest took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him there.
"He is a convicted criminal of child sex. He needs to stay in jail for the entire sentence. He’s not safe to be around children and the victims deserve justice," Judy Jones, Assistant Midwest Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Poandl argues there is no evidence he took the boy anywhere that day and that jurors were allowed to convict him on speculation that he transported him another day.
"If Robert Poandl is released from jail, this is going to devastate his victims. Plus he’s a danger to kids," Jones said.
Poandl also claims prosecutors improperly asked jurors to consider emotional factors rather than evidence.
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