A handcuffed Geoff Drew was largely expressionless as he pleaded guilty to nine counts of rape in a Hamilton County courtroom Thursday.”Drew, how do you plead to count one: rape, a felony of the first degree?” Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz asked.”Guilty,” Drew said.While Drew, a priest of St. Ignatius in Monfort Heights just two-and-a-half years ago, was quiet, his victim had a lot to get off his chest.”The countless touches as I was on recess,” the man said. “Why? Because I was vulnerable? … You made me unusable, undesirable, dirty and broken. I was unworthy. … I always thought it was my body you controlled. And I’ve come to realize it’s been my mind.”Both the victim and his wife said Drew’s actions in the late 1980s had devastating consequences. Back then, when Drew was a music teacher at St. Jude in Bridgetown, he sexually molested the victim repeatedly.”That man over there is my husband. But once he was a little boy with a big heart,” the victim’s wife said. “I’ve watched him struggle but successfully learn to trust God and open his heart again, seeing the reality that it wasn’t God that hurt him but a man that used his position in the Church to ruin lives.”She added, “Today, that roller coaster of torment and heartache that you have driven comes to a screeching halt.”Her husband said the 59-year-old Drew stole his childhood.”The truth is no amount of time will make up for the child inside that you murdered,” he said. Then the victim offered forgiveness.”I have real unconditional control, unconditional love from God,” the victim said. “My wife loves and respects me. I’m no longer hiding.”The victim agreed to a seven-year prison sentence for Drew, far less than the 99 years Drew faced. Since he’s getting credit for time served, Drew will remain behind bars until 2026.While Drew declined to address the victim, Drew’s attorney expressed remorse on behalf of his client for what happened to the victim and the community.In a statement, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said Drew will never again serve as a priest locally or in any other diocese.
CINCINNATI —
A handcuffed Geoff Drew was largely expressionless as he pleaded guilty to nine counts of rape in a Hamilton County courtroom Thursday.
“Drew, how do you plead to count one: rape, a felony of the first degree?” Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz asked.
“Guilty,” Drew said.
While Drew, a priest of St. Ignatius in Monfort Heights just two-and-a-half years ago, was quiet, his victim had a lot to get off his chest.
“The countless touches as I was on recess,” the man said. “Why? Because I was vulnerable? … You made me unusable, undesirable, dirty and broken. I was unworthy. … I always thought it was my body you controlled. And I’ve come to realize it’s been my mind.”
Both the victim and his wife said Drew’s actions in the late 1980s had devastating consequences. Back then, when Drew was a music teacher at St. Jude in Bridgetown, he sexually molested the victim repeatedly.
“That man over there is my husband. But once he was a little boy with a big heart,” the victim’s wife said. “I’ve watched him struggle but successfully learn to trust God and open his heart again, seeing the reality that it wasn’t God that hurt him but a man that used his position in the Church to ruin lives.”
She added, “Today, that roller coaster of torment and heartache that you have driven comes to a screeching halt.”
Her husband said the 59-year-old Drew stole his childhood.
“The truth is no amount of time will make up for the child inside that you murdered,” he said.
Then the victim offered forgiveness.
“I have real unconditional control, unconditional love from God,” the victim said. “My wife loves and respects me. I’m no longer hiding.”
The victim agreed to a seven-year prison sentence for Drew, far less than the 99 years Drew faced. Since he’s getting credit for time served, Drew will remain behind bars until 2026.
While Drew declined to address the victim, Drew’s attorney expressed remorse on behalf of his client for what happened to the victim and the community.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said Drew will never again serve as a priest locally or in any other diocese.
