Prosecutor: Rev. Geoffrey Drew indicted on 9 counts of rape

 A priest who was placed on leave from St. Ignatius of Loyola last month has been indicted on nine counts of rape, according to the Hamilton County prosecutor.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced the indictment for Rev. Geoffrey D. Drew during a Monday afternoon press conference.

The incidents occurred between 1988 and 1991, when Drew was employed as a music minister at St. Jude School in Green Township, Deters said. He was not a priest at the time; he was ordained in 2004.

Prosecutor: Rev. Geoffrey Drew indicted on 9 counts of rape

Vatican defrocks 3 Archdiocese of Cincinnati priests accused of harming children - Story

The Vatican permanently removed three priests in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Tuesday due to allegations of improper behavior involving minors.

The three priests – Thomas Kuhn, Thomas Feldhaus and Ronald Cooper – have each been on administrative leave for more than a decade. They were dismissed Tuesday from the clerical state by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) at the Vatican.

Kuhn, Feldhaus and Cooper were permanently removed from both the rights and the obligations of the priesthood after a canonical process. A panel of three judges made the decision, which was affirmed by the CDF.

The decision constitutes the Catholic Church’s “ultimate penalty” and is commonly referred to as being “defrocked,” Archbishop of Cincinnati Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr said.

Vatican defrocks 3 Archdiocese of Cincinnati priests accused of harming children - Story