A grand jury has returned an Ohio police chief a stunning 70-count indictment for alleged sex crimes involving a child when he was a Young Marines instructor — an array of charges that could imprison him for rest of his life.
Police Chief Chad Essert, 44, who served as the top cop of Bethel, Ohio, a village of about 2,700 residents located about 40 miles southeast of Cincinnati, was taken into custody this week.
A Clermont County grand jury indicted Essert on 56 counts of sexual battery and 14 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, all third-degree felonies, according to news outlets.
According to WLWT5 in Cincinnati:
Investigators said the alleged incidents happened between 2005 and 2010, when Essert was an instructor at the Young Marines and a teacher in Sharonville. Prosecutors said the victim was a student of his and the alleged crimes happened in Clermont and Hamilton counties.
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office database, Essert worked with the Elmwood Place Police Department, Maineville Police Department, and Lincoln Heights Police Department throughout the years that the prosecutor alleged the crimes took place.
The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, ages eight through high school graduation.
It has not been revealed whether Essert’s alleged sexual encounters were with boys or girls.
Essert was arrested this week in Seminole, Florida, though it’s also not clear why he was in that state and what his current employment status is, Fox 19 reported.
He will have to be extradited, or waive extradition, and be transported back to Ohio to face arraignment and trial in Clermont County.
He reportedly was put on paid leave with Ohio’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) after being investigated in early May for possible misconduct. The new charges are unrelated to that investigation, authorities said.
“It takes tremendous courage for a victim to come forward, especially when the accused wears a badge and holds a position of authority,” Clermont County Sheriff Chris Stratton said following the indictment.
He continued, “Today’s 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.”
Essert resigned from a law enforcement position in Elmwood Place, Ohio, in 2010 to avoid being fired over ”allegations of sexual harassment and intimidating a witness,” according to Fox19.
If convicted of all the counts against him, Essert faces a maximum penalty of 280 years in prison, Fox News reported.
Veteran crime writer Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets , which documents one of the worst cases of child sex abuse in U.S. history, occurring in Canton, Ohio, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
