Geoff Drew, the former Catholic priest convicted of raping a student more than three decades ago, is returning home to Cincinnati after five years in prison.
Drew, 64, is scheduled to be released Monday and will live for now at the Volunteers of America halfway house in Cincinnati, where he's expected to participate in treatment and re-entry programs alongside other men and women recently released from prison.
Drew's case inspired the creation of a child advocacy group by Catholic parents and a movement to change Ohio law regarding the statute of limitations for sex crimes against children.
The former priest's arrest in 2019 also brought renewed scrutiny to the Catholic church's handling of abuse allegations involving clergy. An Enquirer investigation three years ago found multiple instances throughout Drew's career when children, colleagues, parishioners and church employees raised concerns about his behavior, but he was not suspended and ordered to stay away from kids until weeks before his arrest on rape charges.
His release has stirred anger and confusion among some who expected Drew to spend more time in prison for raping a grade school student at St. Jude in Bridgetown in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Drew was a music teacher and not yet a priest. Drew pleaded guilty in 2021 to nine counts of rape as part of a plea deal in that case.
"We're taking someone with nine counts of rape and putting them back into society," said Teresa Dinwiddie-Herrmann, a parent whose children attended St. Ignatius of Loyola school when Drew served as a priest there in 2018 and 2019.
Dinwiddie-Herrmann, who co-founded the parents' group Concerned Catholics, said she hopes Drew's release educates Ohioans about what she believes are flaws in the legal system that restrict the state's ability to sufficiently punish child abusers. Her goal is to extend or abolish Ohio's 25-year statute of limitations on such crimes, which requires victims to report the crime to authorities within 25 years after it happened.
In Drew's case, prosecutors investigated other allegations but brought charges only in the case involving the St. Jude student, who came forward as an adult in 2019 to report the crime.
At Drew's sentencing in 2021, the victim stood before the court and addressed Drew with an emotional statement about the impact of the abuse on his life. "The truth is," he said, "no amount of time will make up for the child inside that you murdered."
Because abuse cases often are challenging to win at trial, especially after so many years, then-Prosecutor Joe Deters said at the time that a plea deal with Drew was the best option. If Drew had gone to trial and been convicted, he could have spent the rest of his life behind bars.
Under terms of the plea deal, Drew received a seven-year prison sentence. Because he got credit for the two years he served in jail while awaiting trial, he's being released from prison after serving five years.
Hamilton County's current prosecutor, Connie Pillich, said Drew will remain on parole for five years and must register as a sex offender in the county where he lives every 90 days for the rest of his life.
"The safety of children and families must come first," Pillich said. "He may not be behind bars, but he will still be watched."
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati no longer will have any oversight responsibilities when it comes to Drew. The former priest was laicized, or defrocked, in November 2023 and no longer can present himself as a priest or work with Catholic institutions.
"He will not be permitted to volunteer in any capacity at any parish, school, or ministry under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati," said church spokeswoman Jennifer Schack.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former priest returns to Cincinnati after prison sentence for rape