OH- Predator priest to be sentenced
For immediate release Tuesday, February 11, 2014
For more information contact: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, [email protected]
Predator priest to be sentenced
He was found guilty & worked in 8 states
Courtroom may be filled with his supporters
On Wednesday, a Cincinnati judge will sentence a priest to serve prison time for molesting a boy on an out of state trip.
He is Fr. Robert (Bob) Poandl.
Poandl's was found guilty last Sept 20th of transporting a 10 year old boy from Cincinnati to Spencer, WV and sexually abused him. Poandl's sentencing is set for tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb 12th at 9:30 am. in the Potter Stewart U.S. Federal Courthouse (room 109).
SNAP's Midwest Associate Director, Judy Jones, is in Cincinnati to support the victim and his family and will hold a news conference after Fr. Poandl's sentencing outside the courthouse (on Walnut Street at the corner of 100 East 5th St.).
Here are links to the guilty verdict.
http://www.wsav.com/story/23505295/former-savannah-diocese-priest-convicted-of-sex-crimes
“This victim and his family are very brave,” said Judy Jones of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “And this predator is very shrewd.”
Jones urges anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered Fr. Poandl’s crimes to call prosecutors immediately.
“It’s never too late to share what you know or suspect with law enforcement officials,” she stressed. “It’s up to us to pass on information. And it’s up to police and prosecutors to determine what will help them prosecute a criminal.”
Fr. Poandl belongs to a Fairfield Ohio-based Catholic religious order called the Glenmary Missioners. Glenmary Home Missioners had removed Poandl from ministry once in June 2009 for child sex abuse allegations and then put him back into ministry in Sept 2010 at three churches: St. Christopher's in Claxton, Holy Cross in Pembroke, and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Sandhill, GA. They then removed him again in Feb. 2012 because of a second allegation.
Fr. Poandl worked in Hugo and Boswell, in the Tulsa Diocese, between 1999 and 2003. He also worked at churches and church assignments in OH, PA, TX, KY, LA, and MS.
“He has been transferred roughly 30 times in 44 years. That alone is a serious red flag,” said David Clohessy of SNAP. "Because his church supervisors kept him on the job as recently as 2012, there could be even more recent victims of Fr Poandl."
His photos and detailed work history are here:
http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Poandl_Robert_F_ghm.htm
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 15,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected]), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, [email protected]), Joelle Casteix (949-322-7434, [email protected]), Judy Jones, cell (314-974-5003, [email protected])
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director