CINCINNATI — Former priest and confessed rapist Geoff Drew wants to make it more difficult for the public to know where he’s living when he’s released from prison in 2026.
Drew filed a motion on Jan. 9, asking Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz to reclassify his sex offender status to a lower tier. This would eliminate notifications to neighbors, schools and child care centers within 1,000 feet of where Drew is living.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich opposed the motion, calling it frivolous, and too late to be considered.
“This office is going to do whatever we need to protect the children of Hamilton County,” Pillich said. “He was inappropriate and abused children for decades … This guy has done it over and over and over again and if we change his classification, he’ll probably think that he’s able to do it again.”
Drew pleaded guilty in 2021 to repeatedly raping Paul Neyer when he was 9 and 10 years old. It happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Neyer was a student and altar boy at St. Jude in Bridgetown where Drew was a music minister.
It was one of the most highly publicized and controversial crimes in recent 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.
WATCH: How prosecutor, child advocate warn public about Geoff Drew
A WCPO investigation revealed that priests, parents, and church and school officials knew about Drew’s inappropriate behavior with boys for decades, ranging from lingering hugs and shoulder massages to vacations and camping trips where alcohol was served and a boy blacked out from drinking too much.
Police identified a second victim but prosecutors said they could not file charges in that case because the statute of limitations had expired.
Many other men spoke to police as they were investigating Drew in 2019. They described inappropriate and grooming behavior that spanned decades.
“There is certainly a possibility that there could be more victims,” said Teresa Dinwiddie-Herrmann, who fears that Drew may abuse more children when he gets out of prison. “I think that people in this community should be concerned … and I think it's important that they know where he is living.”
Drew is currently classified at the highest sexual offender level. Once he is released from prison he must register his address with the sheriff’s office every 90 days for the rest of his life. The sheriff would then distribute postcards containing his mug shot and criminal history to neighbors, nearby schools, and childcare centers.
In his motion, Drew claimed a judge wrongfully classified him because the laws when the rapes were committed “were significantly less stringent than the modern ‘Megan’s Law’ requirements that were implemented later in the decade,” wrote Columbus attorney Eric Allen, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors urged the judge to deny the motion because Drew waived his right to a classification hearing. He signed an agreement on Dec. 6, 2021, to be classified as a sexual predator with a lifetime duty to register with community notification.
“He is therefore not eligible for reclassification. Furthermore, any challenge to his Megan’s Law Sexual Predator classification was waived by his failure to file a direct appeal of the same and is now time-barred,” wrote Hamilton County assistant prosecutor Don Gerred in his Jan. 21 response.
If a judge reclassified Drew to a second-tier sex offender status, he would register his address with the sheriff’s department twice a year for 25 years, instead of every 90 days for his lifetime. It would also remove all proactive community notifications of where he’s living. However, residents could still search their local sheriff’s online registry to determine if Drew or other sex offenders live nearby, or the database on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.
“He would be able to blend into the community without people necessarily knowing his past and neighbors might not think about worrying about the safety of their children,” Pillich said.
Pillich also urged community organizations to do background checks on volunteers. A 2023 Ohio law makes it illegal for sex offenders to volunteer in positions that would allow them to have extensive contact with children.
When police arrested Drew in 2019, he was pastor of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Green Township and oversaw Ohio’s largest Catholic grade school.
Dinwiddie-Hermann was a member of that parish. Later she co-founded Ohioans for Child Protection to advocate for laws to protect children from sexual predators and justice for victims.
“We do know that offenders can have 150 victims in their lifetime. We know that predators can offend through their elder years,” Dinwiddie-Herrmann said. “Families in our community should be aware of where he is going to be residing.”
No court date has been set for Drew’s motion. Pillich said a hearing isn’t required, and the judge can decide based on court documents.
Meanwhile, Drew is at the Noble Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison for men in Caldwell, Noble County, Ohio. His expected release date is Aug. 17, 2026.
