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Judge tosses sex abuse case against priest

Contributed photo The Rev. Robert F. Poandl

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The Associated Press 8:47 AM Tuesday, August 31, 2010

SPENCER, W.Va. — A judge has dismissed charges against a Fairfield, Ohio priest accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy while the two visited a West Virginia church in 1991.

Roane County Circuit Judge David W. Nibert dismissed the charges against The Rev. Robert F. Poandl on Friday with prejudice, meaning prosecutors could not refile the same charges against Poandl. Nibert delayed his ruling for 90 days so prosecutors could appeal to the state Supreme Court.

One of Poandl's lawyers, Anita Ashley, said Monday that Nibert dismissed the case because the accuser had failed to comply with a court order to produce medical records.

County Prosecutor Josh Downey did not immediate return a telephone call seeking comment.

Poandl, who is associated with the Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was indicted in February on charges of first-degree sexual assault, first-degree sexual abuse and sexual abuse by a custodian. The charges were filed after a 28-year-old Cincinnati man told police that Poandl molested him during a visit to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Spencer. Poandl's trial had been scheduled to start Monday.

An advocacy group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, urged prosecutors to appeal Nibert's ruling to the state's highest court, saying the case was dismissed on a technicality.

Poandl's attorney saw it differently.

"This is not a dismissal on a technicality," Ashley said. "It's not like we're turning some child abuser loose. He was wrongly accused."

Poandl could not be reached for comment Monday. In a letter sent to Holy Redeemer members on Saturday, Poandl wrote that until Nibert's ruling, "it was simply my word against my accuser's word — and because of some very sad history in our Church, my word was strongly questioned."

Ashley said Poandl was visiting family in New Jersey and then planned to return to Cincinnati.

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