Jury finds Ohio priest guilty in child abuse case
9/20/2013CINCINNATI — A jury has found an Ohio priest guilty of a charge that he took a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago.
Federal jurors on Friday found Robert Poandl guilty of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years.
Prosecutors say the priest from a suburban Cincinnati-based religious order took the boy to Spencer, W. Va. in 1991 and raped him while visiting a church there.
Poandl’s attorney denies the allegations, saying the accuser didn’t even make the trip.
The accuser made his allegations to West Virginia authorities in 2009 and Poandl was indicted there, but those charges accusing him of sexually abusing the boy were dismissed.