Wednesday's Internet Edition, September 08, 2010.
turned over in
sex abuse case
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Publisher - A former nun’s diary requested by attorneys defending a priest charged with sexually abusing a boy almost 20 years ago has been turned over to the court, but not without some effort.
Roane prosecutor Josh Downey said it took his office 18 hours to make photocopies of the 2,093 pages of the journal kept by Karen Karper, now Karen Fredette, a Catholic nun who worked as church secretary at Holy Redeemer church in Spencer in 1991.
That was the year a visiting priest, Robert Poandl, allegedly assaulted a 10-year-old boy he brought with him from Cincinnati. Poandl was filling in for the regular priest, Paul Fredette, while Fredette was away.
Poandl, 69, and the alleged victim both still live in Cincinnati. The victim, now 29, filed a complaint with West Virginia State Police last summer that resulted in Poandl being indicted by a Roane grand jury in January.
The charges of 1st degree sexual assault and abuse and sexual abuse by a custodian allege he fondled the boy and had intercourse with him in 1991.
Poandl is slated to go on trial in August, 19 years after the alleged incidents in the church rectory.
The ex-nun, now married to the former pastor, lives with Fredette in solitude in the mountains of North Carolina.
She first refused to turn over her journal after defense attorneys Anita Ashley and Dennis Curry asked to see all the entries for two years, 1991 and 1992.
Downey asked Roane Circuit Judge David Nibert to seal the journal copies from public view to protect the ex-nun’s privacy.
“We’re talking about two years of the personal life of Mrs. Fredette,” the prosecutor said.
Ashley agreed with the motion.
“Having started to read this journal, I can understand why she would want it sealed,” Ashley said.
Nibert granted the request and agreed to keep the journal copies in a file away from public view.
The defense team is still asking for more records, including medical and psychological records from the alleged victim dating back to 1991.
The defense has argued that if the assault occurred as alleged, medical records would prove it.
The defense also said that previously disclosed information indicates the alleged victim, a pharmacist, is undergoing counseling and is both suicidal and homicidal and suffers from drug addiction, all as a result of the abuse he suffered as a child.
Nibert initially refused the request, but agreed with the stipulation the records would be turned directly over to him to determine if they are relevant to the case.
The defense also wants all the alleged victim’s employment records and anything issued by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy regarding his license as a pharmacist.
Ashley said State Police Sgt. D.B. Swiger, who investigated the case, told the grand jury he had exchanged emails with the alleged victim. Ashley said Downey was supposed to obtain those for the defense as well, but failed to provide them and other records that were to be turned over by June 1.
“I was expecting a lot more than we got so we can prepare for trial,” Ashley said. “We intend to present a vigorous defense.”
When Downey asked who would pay the cost of obtaining nearly 20 years of medical and employment records, Nibert said, “I’ll resolve that issue later.”
Nibert also placed limits on press coverage of hearings leading up to the trial.
Earlier hearings in the case were attended by local television stations and the Associated Press, but Nibert granted a motion by Ashley that precludes cameras, audio equipment and other media, except Spencer Newspapers, from areas in and around the courthouse until further notice.
More than 150 potential jurors are being summoned to serve in a pool of jurors for the trial scheduled to start Aug. 30.
Downey said the first day would likely be spent reducing that number to 12, plus alternates, to serve as jury for the trial.
