A Cincinnati judge has denied a request from priest accused of abuse to reduce his bail. We are grateful for this move as it will ensure that the survivors of this priest will have their day in court.

Fr. Geoff Drew is being held on a $5 million bail on nine charges related to allegations that he raped a young altar boy in the late 1980s. In denying his request for a lower bail, Judge Leslie Ghiz said that she considered Fr. Drew a flight risk and that she was “more concerned about him fleeing, than anything else.”

We believe Judge Ghiz made the right call. We have seen many cases of accused clergy fleeing from justice, with the most recent example coming earlier this year in California. There, Fr. Alexander Castillo was facing charges of sexual abuse and was able to flee from justice after police began an investigation. We are glad that the same will not be happening with Fr. Drew.

As this case moves closer to trial, we hope that victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers will feel encouraged to come forward, make a report, and start healing. And we hope that church officials in Cincinnati will pull out the stops as they reach out to other victims of Fr. Drew and encourage them to report to local law enforcement.

CONTACT: Dan Frondorf, SNAP Cincinnati (danielfrondorf@gmail.com, 513-706-7403), Zach Hiner, Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)