06/14/2026
NEW DEVELOPMENTS: An Ohio police chief accused of sexually abusing a minor over several years while working as a teacher and youth instructor was arrested in Florida following a 70-count felony indictment, authorities said.
Chad Essert, 44, police chief of Bethel, Ohio, was taken into custody without incident by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Tactical Investigations Section in Seminole and booked into the Pinellas County Jail, according to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
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.
Authorities allege the offenses occurred between 2005 and 2010 while Essert worked as an instructor with the Young Marines and as a teacher at Scarlet Oaks Career Campus in Sharonville, Ohio. Investigators said the victim was a student of Essert’s during that period and that the alleged offenses occurred in both Clermont and Hamilton counties.