CINCINNATI — In 2021, Geoff Drew was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a young boy when he worked under the Archdiocese of Cincinnati — and soon, he'll be a free man once again.
Drew pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping an altar boy who was 9 and 10 years old in the late 1980s and early 1990s at St. Jude in Bridgetown, where Drew was a music director.
It was one of the most highly publicized and controversial crimes in recent Cincinnati memory. It led to the resignation of an auxiliary bishop, the demand for a Vatican investigation by 1,500 local Catholics, and questions about how the Archdiocese of Cincinnati handled complaints that spanned three decades, across three different counties where Drew worked in churches and schools first as a music or band director, and later as a priest.
Beginning August 11, 2026, a week before Drew is scheduled to be released from prison, we're releasing a new podcast looking back on the entire investigation, the impacts the case had on Cincinnati, and how the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said it made mistakes along the way.
New episodes will be released every Tuesday and Thursday mornings on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
You can listen to Episode 1 on YouTube here:
Find the podcast on Spotify below:
Drew's complete career history is as follows, per the archdiocese. Some assignments overlap.
- Music teacher at Elder High School — 1983-1990
- Music minister at St. Jude Parish — 1984-1999
- Mount St. Mary's Seminar of the West — 1999-2004
- Internship year at St. Anthony Madisonville — 2001-2002
- Ordained a priest of the archdiocese — 2004
- Parochial vicar at St. Luke Beavercreek — July 1, 2004-June 30, 2005
- Pastor of St. Rita Dayton — July 1, 2005-June 30, 2009
- Pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe — July 1, 2009-June 30, 2018
- Pastor of St. Ignatius of Loyola — July 1, 2018-July 23, 2019
Then-Archbishop Dennis Schnurr placed Drew on an administrative leave of absence before his 2019 arrest, following accusations of inappropriate behavior with a student.
Now Drew is set to live in a two-story halfway house in Over-the-Rhine, Volunteers of America, a re-entry program on W. McMicken Avenue that currently houses 35 registered sex offenders, according to the Ohio sex offender locator website.
It holds an average of 128 men and women, and has at least three staff members on duty 24 hours a day with video surveillance in group rooms, classrooms, day rooms, the recreation yard, smoke pits, hallways and kitchen areas, according to the VOA’s most recent audit, which is listed on its website.
Drew will be at the VOA until he can find another suitable place to reside. If Drew wants to move, he must first seek approval through the adult parole office.
He is currently classified at the highest sexual offender level.
Once he is released from the Noble Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison for men in Caldwell, Noble County, Ohio, he must register his new home address with the sheriff’s office every 90 days for the rest of his life.
Deputies would then distribute postcards containing his mug shot and criminal history to neighbors, nearby schools and child care centers.
Ohio law forbids Tier 3 sex offenders like Drew from living within 1,000 feet of any school, preschool or day care. It also bans them from volunteer work where they would have extensive contact with children.
Drew’s laicization was finalized in November 2023, and his name was subsequently placed on the list of clerics with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse on the archdiocese website, according to an Archdiocese of Cincinnati spokesperson.
He may no longer present himself as a priest. Additionally, he will not be permitted to volunteer in any capacity at any parish, school or ministry under the jurisdiction of the archdiocese, according to a spokesperson.
