{"id":306184,"date":"2026-06-13T08:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/306184\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T08:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:19:15","slug":"ohio-police-chief-arrested-in-florida-after-grand-jury-hands-down-70-count-child-sex-indictment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/306184\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio police chief arrested in Florida after grand jury hands down 70-count child sex indictment"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Ohio<\/a> police chief is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars after being slapped with a 70-count indictment for alleged sex crimes involving a child.<\/p>\n

Bethel Police Chief Chad Essert, 44, was taken into custody without incident Tuesday night in Seminole, Florida<\/a>, by the Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

A Clermont County grand jury indicted the Blanchester, Ohio, resident on 56 counts of sexual battery<\/a> and 14 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor \u2014 all third-degree felonies.<\/p>\n

Texas Sheriff Arrested By His Own Deputies, Now Faces New Charge For Lying To Grand Jury<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Bethel<\/p>\n

Bethel Police Chief Chad R. Essert was arrested in Florida following an indictment for child sex crimes.<\/p>\n

(Fox News)<\/p>\n

If convicted of all charges, Essert faces a maximum penalty of 280 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The allegations stem from offenses that authorities claim occurred between 2005 and 2010, while Essert was an instructor at the “Young Marines” and a teacher at Scarlet Oaks Career Campus in Sharonville, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials said the alleged victim was a student of<\/a> Essert\u2019s and that the crimes took place across multiple locations in Clermont and Hamilton counties.<\/p>\n

Former Substitute Teacher And Boyfriend Face 38 Child Sex Charges As Bond Nears 9 Million<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Bethel<\/p>\n

Bethel Police Chief Chad R. Essert is facing a 70-count indictment related to child sex crimes, according to officials.<\/p>\n

“It takes tremendous courage for a victim to come forward, especially when the accused wears a badge and holds<\/a> a position of authority,” Clermont County Sheriff Chris Stratton said following the indictment. “Today\u2019s indictment demonstrates that no one is above the law. Every victim deserves to be heard, and every allegation will be thoroughly investigated and pursued in accordance with the law.”<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Mark Tekulve echoed the sheriff’s sentiments, emphasizing that victims are “protected and served regardless of the name or title of the perpetrator.”<\/p>\n

Officials clarified the charges are unrelated to a separate investigation involving Essert that was previously reported by local media.<\/p>\n

Texas Substitute Teacher Charged With Child Sex Offenses, ‘No Longer Employed’ By School District<\/a><\/p>\n

FOX 19 reported<\/a> Essert resigned from a position in Elmwood Place, Ohio, in 2010 to avoid being fired over allegations of sexual harassment and intimidating a witness.<\/p>\n

Essert\u2019s employment status is unclear, as of Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

He is being held in the Pinellas County Jail awaiting extradition to Clermont County to face the charges.<\/p>\n

Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office urged anyone else who believes they may have been a victim of similar conduct by Essert to immediately contact law enforcement<\/a> as the investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

The Village of Bethel did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

The Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Original article source: Ohio police chief arrested in Florida after grand jury hands down 70-count child sex indictment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Ohio police chief is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[128016,99674,41818,28,30,29,9875,10154,596,6180],"class_list":["post-306184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-bethel-police-chief-chad-r-essert","tag-blanchester","tag-clermont-county","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-indictment","tag-ohio","tag-pinellas-county","tag-sex-crimes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}