Thursday, February 13, 2014

Child Exploitation: US - Priest Sentenced to 90 Months in Prison for Illicit Interstate Transportation of a Minor

U.S. Attorney’s Office 
Southern District of Ohio

CINCINNATI—Robert Frank Poandl, 72, of Fairfield, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 90 months in prison for violation of the Mann Act, a federal law prohibiting interstate transportation of a minor for illicit purposes.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Marlon Miller, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Ohio and Michigan; and agencies in the Greater Cincinnati Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett.

A jury convicted Poandl on September 20, 2013. Testimony presented during the trial showed that, in August 1991, Poandl transported a 10-year-old boy from Cincinnati to West Virginia where he sexually assaulted the child. The crime was not disclosed until the victim came forward in 2009.

“The nature and circumstances of the offense are horrendous,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy told the court. “They involve the violent sexual and psychological assault of a prepubescent male. Poandl abused the trust placed in him by [the victim’s] family.

A federal grand jury indicted Poandl, known as Father Bob, in November 2012. FBI agents arrested him at the Glenmary Missioners in Fairfield, Ohio. He was placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring following his arrest. Judge Barrett remanded Poandl to the custody of the U.S. Marshals service at the end of today’s hearing to begin serving his sentence immediately.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

Stewart commended the investigation by FBI agents and investigators with the Greater Cincinnati ICAC and the West Virginia State Police, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christy Muncy and Timothy Oakley.

Agencies participating in the Greater Cincinnati ICAC, in addition to FBI and HSI Agencies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office include the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Secret Service, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil, and the police departments in Amberley Village, Blue Ash, Cincinnati, and West Chester.