{"id":307726,"date":"2026-06-15T09:55:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/307726\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:55:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:55:29","slug":"ohio-police-chief-indicted-on-70-sex-related-charges-arrested-in-florida-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/307726\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio police chief indicted on 70 sex-related charges, arrested in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>West Palm Beach, Fla (CBS12) \u2014 Bethel, Ohio, Police Chief Chad Essert was arrested in Florida on Thursday after a Clermont County grand jury indicted him on 70 felony sex-related charges involving allegations from more than 15 years ago, authorities said.<\/p>\n<p>Essert, 44, of Blanchester, was taken into custody without incident at 7:06 p.m. June 11 by the <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/topic\/Pinellas%20County%20Sheriff&#039;s%20Office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office <\/a>Tactical Investigations Section in Seminole, Florida, according to the Clermont County Sheriff\u2019s Office. He was transported to the<a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/topic\/Pinellas%20County%20Jail\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Pinellas County Jail,<\/a> where he remained incarcerated while awaiting extradition back to Clermont County.<\/p>\n<p>The indictment, also announced June 11, includes 56 counts of sexual battery and 14 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. All 70 charges are third-degree felonies.<\/p>\n<p>If convicted on all counts, Essert could face a maximum sentence of 280 years in prison, according to the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities said the alleged offenses occurred between 2005 and 2010, when Essert was an instructor with the Young Marines and a teacher at Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville. The victim was a student of Essert\u2019s during that period, according to investigators.<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff\u2019s office said the alleged offenses occurred at multiple locations in Clermont and Hamilton counties.<\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/delray-beach-businessman-accused-of-selling-counterfeit-designer-bags-again-louis-vuitton-chanel-prada-goyard-christian-dior-ysl-palm-beach-county-sheriffs-office-pbso-undercover-investigation-undercover-agent-luxury-merchandise-counterfeit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Delray Beach businessman accused of selling counterfeit designer bags again<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Officials said the indictment is separate from and unrelated to an earlier investigation involving Essert that had been reported by local media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes tremendous courage for a victim to come forward, especially when the accused wears a badge and holds a position of authority,\u201d Clermont County Sheriff Chris Stratton said in a statement. \u201cToday\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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said the case reflected cooperation between his office and the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis investigation is a perfect example of how victims are protected and served regardless of the name or title of the perpetrator,\u201d Tekulve said. \u201cThe Prosecutor\u2019s Office and the Sheriff\u2019s Office worked seamlessly in this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff\u2019s office is asking anyone who believes they may have been a victim of similar conduct to contact law enforcement. Officials said information from victims and witnesses may assist the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Questions about the indictment or investigation should be directed to the Clermont County Prosecutor\u2019s Office at 513-732-7313.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Palm Beach, Fla (CBS12) \u2014 Bethel, Ohio, Police Chief Chad Essert was arrested in Florida on Thursday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-307726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307726","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=307726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}