Rev. Robert F. Poandl, g.h.m.- Assignment Record

Rev. Robert F. "Bob" Poandl, g.h.m.

Summary of Case: A priest of the Glenmary Home Missioners, which serves in rural areas of the U.S., Poandl was accused in 2009 of having sexually abused a 10-year-old OH boy on a trip to West Virginia in 1991. After a police investigation he was charged in January 2010 with sexual abuse. The charges were dropped in August and Poandl was returned to ministry in Georgia in September 2010. In February 2012 a second person reported having been sexually abused by Poandl nearly 30 years previously. Poandl was again removed from public ministry, and returned to Glenmary headquarters in Fairfield, OH. Poandl maintained he was not guilty. In November 2012 Poandl was indicted on federal charges of transporting a minor across state lines for illicit purposes, related to the 2009 accusation that he sexually abused an OH boy in WV in 1991. Poandl pleaded not guilty. He was placed on house arrest with GPS monitoring pending trial. Poandl was sentenced in February 2014 to 7.5 years in prison.

Ordained: 1968

Start	Stop	Parish/Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1968 Natchez-Jackson bishop was Joseph Bernard Brunini (1967-1984)	1973	St. Francis	Aberdeen	MS	3/3, 2/2,1/2,1/1
1968	1973	St. Helen's	Armory	MS		This was a mission of St. Francis in Aberdeen.
1968	1973	Immaculate Heart of Mary	Houston	MS		This was a mission of St. Francis in Aberdeen.
1968	1973	St. Theresa's	Okolona	MS		This was a mission of St. Francis in Aberdeen.
1968	1973	Christ the King	Fulton	MS		This was a mission of St. Francis in Aberdeen.
1973? Harrisburg bishop was Joseph Thomas Daley (1971-1983)	1974?	St. Jude's	Mifflintown	PA		Poandl is indexed in the 1974 Directory as at St. Francis in Aberdeen, but he is not listed as there in the Natchez-Jackson diocesan pages. This placement is per the Glenmary website. The time frame for Poandl's placement in Mifflintown/Doylesburg is not indicated, but it may have been between his stints in Aberdeen and New Orleans. However, Harrisgburg diocesan pages of the 1974 Directory do not list Poandl as at St. Jude's.
1973?	1974?	Our Lady of Refuge	Doylesburg	PA		This was a mission of St. Jude's in Mifflintown.
1974 New Orleans archbishop was Philip Matthew Hannan (1965-1988)	1975	Glenmary House of Studies	New Orleans	LA	Director	This was an undergraduate house of studies at Loyola University for Glenmary priesthood and brotherhood candidates.
1975 Cincinnati archbishop was Joseph Louis Bernardin (1972-1982)	1979	Motherhouse of Glenmary Home Missions	Fairfield	OH	House Director; Second Vice-President
1979 Atlanta archbishop was	1981	St. Luke's	Dahlonega	GA	1/1
1979	1981	St. Paul the Apostle	Cleveland	GA		This was a mission of St. Luke's in Dahlonega.
1979	1981	St. Francis of Assisi	Blairsville	GA		This was a mission of St. Luke's in Dahlonega.
1979	1981	U.S. Ranger Camp	Dahlonega	GA		This was a station of St. Luke's in Dahlonega.
1981	1988	St. Francis of Assisi	Blairsville • Poandl was accused in Feb. 2012 of having sexually abused an anonymous person "nearly 30 years ago". • In July 2012 a man reported to police that Poandl molested him when he was a 10 year-old St. Francis altar boy in the 1980s.	GA	1/1
1981	1988	St. Paul the Apostle	Cleveland	GA		This was a mission of St. Francis of Assisi in Blairsville.
			Franklin	KY	Administrator
1988 Cincinnati archbishop was Daniel Edward Pilarczyk (1982-2009)	1994	Headquarters of Glenmary Home Missioners	Fairfield • A 28 year-old Cincinnati man reported to the Glenmary order in June 2009 that Poandl sexually abused him in 1991 when the man was 10 years-old. The man said the abuse occurred during a trip from Ohio to Spencer, West Virginia, at the Holy Redeemer parish rectory.	OH	Acting Vocation Director 1988-1990; Vocation Director 1990-1994	Police said Poandl traveled to W.VA one weekend in Aug. 1991 to fill-in for a Holy Redeemer priest, and that he brought the boy with him.
1994 Tyler bishop was Edmond Carmody (1992-2000)	1999	Holy Cross	Pittsburg	TX	1/1	Holy Cross had a religious education program with 58-140 students.
1999 Tulsa bishop was Edward James Slattery (1993-)	2003	Immaculate Conception	Hugo	OK	1/1	Immaculate Conception had a religious education program with 41-29 students.
1999	2003	St. Jude	Boswell	OK		This was a mission of Immaculate Conception in Hugo.
2003	2007	Headquarters of Glenmary Home Missioners	Fairfield	OH	1st Vice-President; Director of Education
2007 Savannah bishop was John Kevin Boland (1995-2011)	June 2009	St. Christopher's	Claxton	GA	1/1
2007	June 2009	St. Jude	Glenville	GA		This was a mission of St. Christopher's in Claxton.
2007	June 2009	Holy Cross	Pembroke	GA		This was a mission of St. Christopher's in Claxton.
2007	June 2009	Our Lady of Guadalupe	Sandhill	GA		This was a mission of St. Christopher's in Claxton.
June 2009 Cincinnati archbishop was Dennis Marion Schnurr (2009-)	Sept. 2010	Administrative Leave/Headquarters of Glenmary Home Missioners	Fairfield	OH		Poandl was charged in Jan. 2010 by West Virginia State Police with first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a custodian, after investigating a June 2009 report that a 10 year-old boy had been abused by Poandl at a W.VA parish in 1991. Glenmary president, Rev. Dan Dorsey, stated that after learning of the allegations in June 2009 he removed Poandl from public ministry in Georgia and had him return to Glenmary headquarters in Cincinnati. Poandl pleaded not guilty to the charges. The case was dismissed in Aug. 2010 by a judge who said that not all of the accuser's medical records had been turned over to the court, as he had ordered.
Sept. 2010 Boland was succeeded as Savannah bishop by Gregory John Hartmayer, O.F.M. Conv. (2011-)	Feb. 2012	St. Christopher's	Claxton	GA		Poandl returned to public ministry in Georgia Sept. 25, 2010.
Sept. 2010	Feb. 2012	Holy Cross	Pembroke	GA		This was a mission of St. Christopher's in Claxton.
Sept. 2010	Feb. 2012	Our Lady of Guadalupe	Sandhill	GA		This was a mission of St. Christopher's in Claxton.
Feb. 2012	Feb. 2014	Administrative Leave/Headquarters of Glenmary Home Missioners	Fairfield	OH		Poandl was removed from plublic ministry a second time in Feb. 2012, after an allegation of sexual abuse that is said to have occurred "nearly 30 years ago" surfaced. Poandl denied the accusations. Poandl was indicted by a federal grand jury in Nov. 2012 on charges that in 1991 he transported a 10 year-old boy across state lines for illicit purposes. This is the same case for which charges were previously dropped on a technicality. Poandl pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He was placed on house arrest, with GPS monitoring. In Dec. 2012 Poandl requested and was granted permission to travel to New York for medical treatment. His trial, which was to begin in January 2013, was postponed until March 18, 2013. Poandl was convicted in Sept. 2013 of interstate transportation of a minor for illicit purposes. He was sentenced Feb. 12, 2014 to 7.5 years in prison.

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Poandl's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on Feb. 13, 2014