An Ohio Republican lawmaker accused of sexually abusing his minor daughter publicly directed his Facebook supporters toward a critic Tuesday, posting a phone number associated with the sender and telling followers he wanted them to “blow up” the person’s phone.
The message that prompted State Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, to respond was brief:
“Shame on you. We believe your daughter. You should resign.”
Creech answered the text with a laughing emoji and wrote, “If you need any topsoil let me know.”
Then he posted the exchange to Facebook.
And Facebook’s edit history shows Creech’s original post was considerably more explicit about what he wanted his supporters to do than the version that remained visible later Tuesday.
‘I’m requesting that you’ contact the sender
At 11:31 a.m., Creech published a screenshot of the exchange with the phone number visible and wrote:
“Someone sent me this text earlier.
So to my friends and family that want to have fun…I’m requesting that you just drop this person a line and say hello.
Please be nice but I would love to see you blow their phone up.
When you play stupid games you win stupid prizes!”
Eleven minutes later, Creech edited the post.
The 11:42 a.m. version changed “I’m requesting that you” to the less direct “maybe just drop this person a line and say hello.”
He also changed “I would love to see you blow their phone up” to “I would love to see their phone blow up with friendly Creech supporters just saying hello.”
But Creech made another change at the same time.
He added the phone number directly to the body of the Facebook post.
The number was already visible in the screenshot Creech uploaded. After the edit, it also appeared in plain text beneath his invitation for supporters to contact the person.
Creech’s edited post read:
“A random person sent me this text earlier.
So to my fb friends and family that want to have fun…maybe just drop this person a line and say hello.
Please be nice but I would love to see their phone blow up with friendly Creech supporters just saying hello.
When you play stupid games you win stupid prizes!”
He then listed the phone number.
TiffinOhio.net is withholding the number and has redacted it from images accompanying this report.
The edit history is significant because Creech did not merely repost criticism and leave his followers to decide what to do with it. His original language explicitly said, “I’m requesting that you” contact the sender and “I would love to see you blow their phone up.”
Within 11 minutes, both phrases had been softened — while the phone number itself was made even more prominent.
Supporters said they acted on Creech’s request
The comments beneath Creech’s post show supporters understood what he was asking them to do.
One commenter wrote simply: “Done!”
Another wrote, “Maybe we should all send text messages to this phone number lol.”
A third said he had already contacted the number, writing that he “asked him if he needs topsoil” and offered “better prices and free delivery.”
Others continued joking about contacting the number.
Several commenters also began trying to identify the person behind it. Screenshots of social media accounts purportedly associated with the number were posted publicly beneath Creech’s post.
One supporter suggested going further, writing: “Just go put a little top soil on their front porch for free, maybe add some manure on top.”
Commenters also posted screenshots purporting to show that the number had previously been advertised in connection with a small business. TiffinOhio.net has not independently confirmed that the person associated with those accounts sent the original message to Creech.
That distinction matters: phone numbers can be reassigned, spoofed or used by multiple people, and Creech’s own post described the sender only as “a random person.”
Another commenter raised that exact concern, warning that “there’s a good chance some innocent person is going to receive the messages.”
Despite that uncertainty, Creech left the number visible to his followers and explicitly encouraged them to use it.
‘We believe your daughter’
The criticism that triggered Creech’s post referred to allegations that have followed the lawmaker since an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation probe became public in 2025.
The allegations were not simply that Creech had been in bed with his daughter.
According to BCI documents obtained by the Statehouse News Bureau, Creech’s minor daughter accused him of climbing into bed and under the covers with her while erect and wearing only his underwear.
Creech acknowledged to investigators that he had gotten into bed with the minor while wearing his underwear, but denied the sexual nature of the allegations, including allegations of inappropriate touching.
The daughter alleged that Creech’s erect penis pressed or poked her in the back while they were in bed, according to the investigative record.
Another Republican lawmaker, state Rep. Phil Plummer, a former Montgomery County sheriff, was interviewed by BCI about a private conversation he had with Creech concerning the allegations.
According to BCI interview records, Plummer told investigators that Creech said he did not remember whether he had poked the minor in the back during the encounter.
Plummer told investigators Creech’s comments were “disgusting and uncalled for” and “appalling.”
“As a father myself, I think it’s just appalling,” Plummer told investigators, according to records reported by the Dayton Daily News.
When BCI investigators questioned Creech about his conversation with Plummer, Creech initially responded, “Whatever Phil told you I probably said,” according to the investigative records. Creech later denied Plummer’s account.
Creech was never charged and has repeatedly denied sexually abusing his daughter. He has called the allegations “demonstrably false” and politically motivated.
But the special prosecutor who reviewed the investigation did not describe Creech as having been exonerated.
Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll declined to pursue charges in October 2024, writing that Creech’s behavior was “concerning and suspicious” while concluding that the available evidence fell short of the threshold needed for prosecution.
“I find the statements of [the alleged victim] to be persuasive but find no independent evidence to support their claims,” Driscoll wrote.
Driscoll later told the Dayton Daily News that his description of Creech’s behavior referred both to his conduct during the investigation and his conduct during the period investigators were examining.
Creech’s daughter has since spoken publicly
The identity of Creech’s accuser was initially withheld by news organizations because she was a minor relative.
His daughter has since publicly identified herself and challenged Creech’s characterization of her allegations.
As TiffinOhio.net previously reported, Creech publicly characterized his daughter’s allegations as “textbook parental alienation” and said the controversy was “100% in the name of politics” during a February Facebook dispute.
His daughter responded directly.
“You continue to post trying to nail my mother and blame her, instead of taking blame for your own inappropriate actions,” she wrote.
She later added: “Heaven forbid a child speaks out about something like this, right?!”
The comments subsequently disappeared from Creech’s page. Creech denied removing them.
That history explains the otherwise cryptic message Creech received Tuesday: “We believe your daughter. You should resign.”
The screenshot Creech himself published contains no threat. It shows a person criticizing an elected official and urging him to leave office over allegations made by his daughter.
Creech responded by directing his political supporters toward the sender’s phone.
Ohio law addresses inciting others to harass someone
Creech’s post also raises questions under Ohio’s telecommunications-harassment statute, although there is no indication he has been charged with an offense.
Ohio Revised Code 2917.21(A)(10) provides that no person shall knowingly “incite another person through a telecommunication or other means to harass or participate in the harassment of a person.”
The law separately prohibits knowingly posting text or an image online “for the purpose of abusing, threatening, or harassing another person.”
A first violation of those provisions is generally a first-degree misdemeanor.
The statute does not mean Creech’s Facebook post automatically constituted telecommunications harassment. Whether conduct violates the law depends on whether prosecutors can establish each element of the offense, including the required intent.
But Creech’s edit history provides a contemporaneous record of what he told his supporters before softening the language.
“I’m requesting that you just drop this person a line and say hello,” he originally wrote.
Then: “I would love to see you blow their phone up.”
At least one commenter warned Creech about the potential legal implications.
“Just a heads up telling people to text somebody like that can be considered telecommunications harassment,” the commenter wrote.
Creech did not remove the number from the version of the post reviewed by TiffinOhio.net.
GOP leaders once asked Creech to resign
The episode comes after Ohio Republican leaders first punished Creech over the allegations and then reversed course.
When the BCI investigation became public in May 2025, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman stripped Creech of all four committee assignments, including his chairmanship of the House Agriculture Committee, and asked him to consider resigning.
“This, on its face, was very serious,” Huffman said at the time.
Creech refused to resign.
Nine months later, Huffman restored Creech to four committees, citing the absence of criminal charges or other action by authorities.
Huffman then backed Creech’s reelection, and the Ohio Republican Party endorsed him for another term.
Creech went on to win the May Republican primary for House District 40, defeating former state Rep. J. Todd Smith 58% to 42%.
He remains a sitting member of the Ohio House and the Republican nominee for another term.
Tuesday’s incident began with one person sending Creech seven words of political criticism: “We believe your daughter. You should resign.”
Creech’s initial public response was equally clear about what he wanted his supporters to do.
“I’m requesting that you” contact the person, he wrote.
“I would love to see you blow their phone up.”
