Nine months ago, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman stripped state Rep. Rodney Creech of his committee assignments and asked him to resign. The allegations were serious: Creech was accused of climbing into bed with a minor female relative while wearing only his underwear and having an erection, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.
Creech refused to resign. On Friday, Huffman reinstated him — and the Ohio Republican Party officially endorsed him for re-election.
Creech was not charged. He has called the allegations “demonstrably false.”
The allegations date to 2023, when a minor female relative accused Creech of climbing into bed and under the covers with her while erect, wearing only his underwear, according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents obtained by the Statehouse News Bureau. Text messages showed the minor complaining that Creech had been rubbing her legs and grabbing her waist, and that she was “put to tears” from being so uncomfortable around him, according to NBC4. Creech acknowledged to investigators that he had gotten into bed with the minor in his underwear before but denied the sexual nature of the allegations, including that he had touched her more than once.
No investigation was launched at that time. The Preble County Sheriff and county prosecutor later recused themselves due to personal relationships with Creech, according to the Dayton Daily News. BCI did not begin investigating until November 2023, four months after the allegations were first reported to local law enforcement. Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll, brought in as a special prosecutor, concluded in October 2024 that Creech’s “behavior during the time of the investigation was concerning and suspicious” but that “the evidence falls short of the threshold needed for prosecution” and closed the case.
The resurfaced allegations prompted Huffman to act in May 2025, stripping Creech of all 4 committee assignments — including the chairmanship of the House Agriculture Committee — and telling the Dayton Daily News he had asked Creech to resign. “I did not think that he could fill out his duties effectively as a legislator with this in the public sphere,” Huffman said. Creech refused. He continued serving in the Ohio House, eventually abandoned a Senate primary campaign he had launched in May 2025, and announced on Feb. 6 that he would instead seek re-election to his House District 40 seat.
The political fallout was not limited to the statehouse. In a Facebook exchange verified by TiffinOhio.net, Creech publicly dismissed his daughter’s statements about the allegations as “textbook parental alienation” and “100% in the name of politics” on his official state representative page. His daughter pushed back directly, writing that her statements reflected “true feelings” and that neither she nor other family members were motivated by politics. “Heaven forbid a child speaks out about something like this, right?!” she wrote. The comments later disappeared from Creech’s page. Creech denied removing them.
On Feb. 6, Huffman signed a letter to Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou formally requesting the party endorse Creech along with other Republican House members for the 2026 primary and general elections. The Ohio Republican Party acted on that request Friday. Under party rules, incumbents seeking re-election require only a simple majority of ORP State Central Committee members to secure the endorsement, which places a candidate’s name on the official slate card distributed to Republican primary voters, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Creech posted on his official state representative Facebook page Friday: “Thank you to the Ohio Republican Party for your overwhelming endorsement for my final term at the Ohio House.”
Huffman offered his reasoning for reinstating Creech to the Statehouse News Bureau on Wednesday: “What I’ve concluded and I think most folks have concluded over the last ten months is that none of that came to bear, that in fact these various allegations or statements — many of those things either weren’t true, (it) wasn’t clear if they were true, and that in fact, there are no authorities taking any action.”
Friday’s endorsement was not the first time Ohio Republicans rallied around Creech despite knowledge of the investigation. Despite being aware of the BCI probe, Montgomery County Republicans included Creech on their endorsement slate card for the November 2024 election, according to the Dayton Daily News. Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Butler Township), a primary opponent in Creech’s abandoned Senate race, told BCI investigators that comments Creech made about the allegations were “disgusting, uncalled for, and appalling,” according to Cleveland.com. Creech, for his part, said Thursday he is “stronger, wiser and more committed than ever.” He faces the May 5, 2026, Republican primary for Ohio House District 40.
Attempts to reach Huffman’s office and the Ohio Republican Party for comment were unsuccessful.
