WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
August 8, 2019
By Jessica Rinaudo
During Mass the weekend of July 27-28, it was announced at Masses that Father Geoff Drew, pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in Cincinnati, is on administrative leave.
No further details were provided, which left many feeling frustrated.
On July 29, parishioners attended a meeting at St. Ignatius where archdiocesan officials revealed that Drew had allegedly engaged in behavior that violates the archdiocese’s Decree on Child Protection – although no allegations of sexual abuse or criminal activity had been reported at that time.
The gravity of this incident was underscored by the revelation just over a week later that this was not the first time Drew’s behavior had been reported to the archdiocese. Two separate reports were written in 2013 and 2015 about the priest’s behavior while he served as pastor at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Liberty Township.
The reports from those time periods included allegations that Drew gave uninvited hugs, shoulder massages, leg pats above the knee and made inappropriate sexual comments about their bodies and appearances to teenage boys.
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