OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Priest who worked in Ohio goes to prison for abuse
Over nearly half century, he was transferred 30 times
Group urges Catholic officials in ten dioceses to “reach out to other victims”
A Catholic priest who worked in Ohio and molested a Cincinnati boy is going to prison.
A US federal court judge in Cincinnati has sentenced Fr. Robert (Bob) Poandl to 7.5 years behind bars for taking a ten year old Ohio boy to Spencer, WV and sexually abusing him in 1991.
Fr. Poandl worked in the Cincinnati diocese at least three times (see below). Catholic officials transferred him about 30 times in 44 years.
“That alone is a serious red flag,” said Judy Jones of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a Chicago-based support group. “A number of bishops and other church officials have acted dreadfully in this case, even in recent years, despite this victim’s credible abuse report, Catholic officials put Fr. Poandl back on the job as recently as 2012.”
“This brave victim and his family should be praised for their courage and their determination,” said Jones. “Their compassion and bravery has put this child predator in jail and away from innocent children. It was a long ordeal, but they did not give up.”
“We fear there could be many others who have been hurt by Fr. Poandl and are still suffering in silence and shame,” she emphasized “Victims often stay trapped and quiet unless they’re gently but firmly encouraged to speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing. That’s what bishops in each diocese where Fr. Poandl worked should have done years ago and should do now.”
SNAP is calling on Catholic officials to:
–visit each parish where Fr. Poandl worked and beg anyone who may have knowledge of or suspicions about clergy sex crimes or cover ups – involving Fr. Poandl or other priests – to contact police, and
–post his guilty verdict and sentence on parish and diocesan web sites and in diocese newspapers and church bulletins.
Fr. Poandl belongs to a Fairfield Ohio-based Catholic religious order called the Glenmary Missioners and also had church assignments in PA, TX, KY, LA, MS, OK, GA., and WV.
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