Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Police Chief Slapped with 70 Charges in Shocking Sex Crimes Scandal

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

Chad Essert, 44, is the police chief of Bethel, Ohio. But years before that, Essert worked as an instructor for the Young Marines program. During that time, the Clermont County prosecutor says Essert groomed a girl who was taking part in the program and had sexual contact with her from 2005 to 2010. Now, Essert faces 70 felony charges related to the allegations. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at the case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Mark Weaver https://x.com/MarkRWeaverCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I think that the officers gain a whole lot more by coming in and actually having one-on-one conversations with the class. That was now suspended police chief Chad Esser in happier times. Get down on your knees for me. Moving up. Now Esart is under fire and under indictment for alleged sex crimes against a young Marine. I'll go through the disturbing case. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy.

Chad Esert swore to uphold the law. He took an oath to protect and serve, but now the embattled police chief of a small village in southwest Ohio is accused of violating not only the public's trust, but the law. And this case involves allegations of sex with a young girl. This story is kind of long and convoluted, so stay with me. Chad Esserth has been the police chief, the top cop of a village called Bethel since October 2021. He's been a licensed law enforcement officer since 2003. He's even trained other officers. Here's a clip of him talking about a training.

I think it did add value as an excellent class. I've actually taken the class personally three times, and I think that the officers gain a whole lot more by coming in and actually having one-on-one conversations with the class. So I think it totally adds value, and I think guys are going to go back and be able to repeat some of these tactics and the legal aspect.

of things and be more comfortable with what they're doing out there in the street. Thank you. On social media, Esert looks really put together. He wears a uniform and a badge and looks the part of a police chief. Employment records from the state of Ohio show Esert's been licensed as a law enforcement officer since 2003 holding positions at a number of smaller agencies since that time. But there's something those records don't show. Esart, a police chief, who's now 44 years old, is being accused of sex crimes.

involving a girl who was part of a young Marines program from 2005 to 2010. Yes, these allegations date back to 2005. That's 21 years ago. Esert would have been in his early 20s. From 2005 to 2010, the prosecutor in Claremont County, Ohio says Esart was an instructor with the program during that time long, long before he was the police chief of Bethel. The website describes the program as a nonprofit, youth education, and and service program for boys and girls ages 8 through high school graduation.

The site states, our mission is to strengthen the lives of America's youth by promoting the mental, moral, and physical development of young people. The program emphasizes character building, leadership, and a commitment to living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. Young Marines learn the value of discipline, service to others, and teamwork through hands-on activities, community service, and leadership training. The allegations in the 70-count indictment. involve a woman who is now an actual Marine, an accomplished Marine, 20 years after participating in that young Marine program.

She has spoken to a man who runs a Facebook page called the Watchdog Wire, revealing how she says Chad Esart targeted her when she was very young. The accuser said that Esart would wrestle around with her. And another time, they were in a pool, and she said he took her swimsuit bottom off. And there was much more, according to the prosecutor in Claremont County, Ohio, that's east of Cincinnati. A grand jury returned a secret indictment based on what the accuser reported to the sheriff's office. That indictment includes 56 counts of sexual battery, which are felonies of the third degree. And 14 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor also felonies of the third degree. Esert was in a position of trust as an instructor at the Young Marines program.

He was supposed to be shaping young people and teaching them values. Instead, the prosecutor says he took advantage of a young woman who was looking to better herself and learn about becoming a Marine so she could serve her country. The indictment, I mentioned, was secret because Chad Esert isn't in Ohio anymore, despite technically still being employed as the Bethel Police Chief. More on that in a moment. Deputies in Pinellas County, Florida, picked up Esart on a warrant for those 70 felony charges. And as you can see, he's been spending some time in the sun. He's in the Pinellas County Jail right now. He'll have to be extradited to Ohio to answer to those 70 felony sex charges. So why was Chad Esert in Florida?

Well, I'll tell you why. Esert took time off under the Family Medical Leave Act in May. This came after a separate investigation where he was accused of driving his village police department-issued cruiser to Dayton, Ohio, to have sex with a woman who works on only fans. No charges were filed in that case, but that didn't seem to go over well with Esert's bosses in the village of Bethel. So Esert's been off work, and deputies in a neighboring county in Ohio even went to his house to check on. him back in May. Get down on your knees for me. Moving up. Don't put your second knee down for me, sir. Thank you. Okay, man, just relax. We'll get all figured out in a second, all right?

Oh, no. I'm going to be able to be a second. Okay. All right, just relax. Well, stay right. Oh, no, I'm going to back him up. Just stand. Just face that way. Okay, relax. You're not in trouble. We're worried about you. Where's the gun you had at? Where's the gun you had at? Where's the gun you had at?

He said the guns by the tractor. He's got one round. He's got one round. The deputies were concerned about Chad Esert, and they were asking him where his guns were located. What's the mess? What's going on? I don't know. Okay. You police officer?

All right, man. So those were just a couple of the clips from the visit deputies paid to Esert at his home in another county in May. Then he headed south to Florida where he'd been on his family medical leave. Then came the surprise indictment. The sheriff of Claremont County issued a statement saying about the sex charges. Chris Stratton said it takes tremendous courage for a victim to come forward, especially when the accuser wears a badge and holds a position of authority. 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. Joining me to discuss this incredibly disturbing case is Mark Weaver, he works as a special prosecutor in the state of Ohio, also sometimes sits as a judge. Mark, thanks so much for coming on to discuss this. I really appreciate it. Yeah, I was surprised by this news. This is a stunning amount of charges for former law enforcement officer. Yeah, most certainly. You know, we have 70 counts of it that includes sexual battery and then sexual battery unlawful sexual contact with a minor. And Chad Esser is being accused of victimizing. It sounds like one victim from what we're hearing from the press release from the prosecutor over many years.

And so this person was a cadet in the Young Marines program. you're anywhere from the age of 8 to 18 or 19 if you're a young Marine and I don't know this is really kind of scary stuff because he was in a position of power as a police chief and then he's got all this other stuff going on in the background with this other investigation but we really just focus on the alleged criminal conduct here so talk to me about why you think this is coming to light now well I imagine the victim has come forward. When I've worked on cases like this, we'll have a victim come forward years after the sexual offenses were made and is willing to cooperate. Sometimes that's because

the victim has gone through counseling and recognized that going to authorities as part of their healing. That could be it. Could be that a third party found out about it and told law enforcement and the victim wasn't keen on talking about it but was willing to when contacted. We'll know more as we get ready to trial, but the two charges revolve around two different aspects of Ohio's state law. One is when you are in a position of authority like a teacher, typically a teacher, that's where you'd get the sexual battery charge, third degree felony sexual battery. and the other is unlawful sexual conduct with a minor is when it's a much older person with a younger person, typically under 16. You know, it's shocking to me because we've heard about this guy with this other investigation, and I'm not laughing about it.

I'm laughing at the absurdity of it because he was accused in another investigation that was not criminal in nature, because they said they didn't find any criminal wrongdoing, of driving his police cruiser up to Dayton, Ohio, from Bethel, where he lives, and having sexual relations with some woman who was on Onlyfans. And so they didn't find any criminal wrongdoing there, but he was under suspension as that investigation was underway. It seems like a lot of smoke surrounding Chad Esser at this point in time.

Are we going to find out, more? Is your gut telling you as a prosecutor that there might be more there there? Yeah, the driving your squad car to go have sex with an adult is not a crime other than if you're using your police equipment for personal use. That's theft in office, but that's a minor crime compared to these other charges we're talking about. I've worked with a lot of police chiefs, and very, very few of them are the criminal type. I can't even think any off the top of my head. And so someone with this level of bad judgment, presuming these things are true, everyone's got the presumption of innocence. But if there's evidence that these things happened, there's

almost certainly going to be other crimes that have been committed. And what often happens is the publicity surrounding a case being filed like this one will bring out victims who will then contact, in this case, the Claremont County Sheriff or the prosecutor's office, and say that they had some level of illegal sex with this person. We don't know that yet. I can tell you that's happened at other cases I prosecuted. Well, the allegations in this case that are just really sad because we don't know the age of the victim yet,

but we know enough to know they were between the ages of 8 and 18. And they're claiming this one on for five years while he was an instructor in this program. That's a really long time. I mean, five years. So this victim, in order for them to seek this indictment, this accuser, and to get this indictment, I would assume there would have to be more evidence of wrongdoing than just, oh, he, you know, I said that Chief Esser, Chad Esser, did this to me.

Yeah, I would think so. For purposes of clarity, the prosecutor and the grand jury would not have advanced the unlawful sexual conduct with a minor charge if someone was 17 or 18. I think you have to be under 16. Last time I looked at that statute. So we can guess that it's somebody who's under 16. The sexual battery charges don't require that age difference, but I think unlawful sexual conduct with a minor does. You make a good point, though. As a prosecutor, I'd like to have something more than he said, she said, presuming that the juvenile here is a female. You'd like to have something. You'd like to to have something other than a he said, she said. With this much passage in time, it's extremely

unlikely there's any forensic evidence like DNA or a rape kit. More typically, there might be digital evidence like texts, photos, videos, or even what we call a controlled call, where the victim who's cooperating with law enforcement will call the offender and law enforcement's recording that call and then the victim brings up the topic and the offender then makes confessions or admissions or disclosures that can be then used at trial. So as a prosecutor, having done a lot of sex cases over my career, I prefer something more than just the word of the victim against the word of the offender. Having said that, I have brought cases where it's just been the word of the victim against the word of the offender. How hard is that to prosecute, though, and get a conviction without a guilty plea if you just have the word of an accuser against the defendant? It can be hard.

A lot of it depends on the victim. And one of the frustrating things that prosecutors talk about when we get together is that often the kind of victim that is targeted by an offender, I'm speaking generally now, is somebody who has some troubles, maybe some personality disorders, maybe some mental challenges, maybe other things that might make them in the eyes of the offender a good target. That can turn off a jury when that person is testifying. Some of those personality characteristics might come out on the stand. I prosecuted a child rape case in Delaware County several years ago where it really was just the victim's word. And because she had said something about another incident that the judge,

jury didn't believe, not about the incident that was charged, they acquitted this person. And when I talked to the jury later, they said that they essentially said they didn't like the victim much. And so as prosecutors, we only have the facts brought to us by law enforcement, by victims, and then we have to make a very tough decision about whether to go forward with a trial. You know, what's so shocking to me about this is the fact that, you know, the amount of time that's passed. So many years have passed. I mean, we're talking about 16 years have passed allegedly since the last contact of a sexual nature between this accuser and this

and Chad Usert. So, I mean, a lot's probably gone on since then, and my thinking is, and I'm trying to figure out, did this person see the recent news about the unrelated internal administrative investigation related to the police cruiser and say, I know that guy. I know that guy and that's that guy from that young Marines thing where I was a kid and allegedly he did X, Y, and Z. Could it be as simple as that? That's a plausible theory. I've seen that happen before. Let's assume these facts occurred. So in this case, this soon-to-be former police chief was an instructor. had improper and illegal sexual conduct with this minor. The minor may not realize that this person has gone on to be police chief

and is now in a position of authority. And then when he or she sees on the news that this person does have a position of authority that could trigger within them a desire to come forward and protect other people from abuse of power. So that's entirely plausible that it went down that way. We'll know more as the prosecutor provides discovery information to defend. defense counsel and as the motion practice moves forward where the defense is likely to file a motion to suppress or some other pretrial motion that would give us more insight into the details of the evidence. And it sounds like Chad Esserd was down in Florida when they arrested him. I mean,

he's in Florida. You can see he looks like he just got out of the sun, you know, off the beach or what have you he's freshly tanned he's under suspension they did this secret indictment we still don't have the actual physical indictment we have the warrant we have all of that stuff we have the grand jury report you know indictments are always secret until they're filed is there a reason in the state of ohio they would label it a secret indictment is that because they have to bring him back here to Ohio to serve him first? Explain that process a little bit more if you could. Well, typically, first of all, I've prosecuted, I guess, in 12 different Ohio counties,

and so the grand juries are always a little different in each of the counties. But I think it's fair to say that when a prosecutor obtains an indictment from a grand jury, we have the ability to request an immediate arrest warrant or summons, meaning sort of the person gets served and they show up of their own choice as opposed to being arrested by law enforcement. We also have the ability to ask the presiding judge to seal the indictment until we can arrest the person. And we almost always do that. Well, there's two reasons. The one that I don't think is present here is when there's co-defendants or co-targets that we need to indict and haven't indicted yet, and we don't want to tip them off.

More typically, it's you're worried that the person who just got indicted is going to flee. And somebody who's out of state, if this person sounds like he was in Florida, that makes him a prime candidate for fleeing to jurisdiction and the reach of the court. So sounds like they figured out where he was. He's in Florida. Perhaps he owns property there or some other way of knowing that he's down there. Contacted local authorities who then arrested him. Now there will be an extradition proceeding unless he chooses to waive that because you don't go automatically brought back. You have some due process rights in the state where you're arrested. But a sealed or secret indictment is typically done to make sure that the person who's been indicted can be brought into

custody before they would learn about the indictment. It's really wild to me. I'm thinking, you know, they're probably concerned he might flee if he heard about it. Well, yeah, sure. I mean, if you're in Florida, I suppose Cuba's not that far away, or you can just jump on an international flight and go somewhere. There's no reason why the authorities would stop you. Being on administrative suspension back at your job is not enough to stop you from flying somewhere. And so, and the ward wouldn't have been put into the system yet for him to be stopped. So, listen, the Claremont County Prosecutor does a good job. It's had some very serious high-profile cases over the last several years. I know some of the folks down there, this is a professional

organization, same with the sheriff's office. They thought this through. They have an obligation ethically to only bring the case if there's good evidence. The grand jury thought there was good evidence, at least at the probable cause level, which is the grand jury level. And so this many counts suggest that they've got some pretty important, strong evidence that will come out quickly. It's disturbing for sure.

The allegations are disturbing. He's innocent until proven guilty, of course. But that's a lot. And if this child is, you know, in the young teenage years and this went on for five years, that's a lot. It is. And I would not be surprised that if maybe this victim, who's now an adult, has been in some form of therapy with a minister or counselor. And part of the healing process was being willing to do the right thing. The right thing is to tell law enforcement.

It takes some victims longer than others. I understand that I've worked with the victims as young as two years old, and as as as into their 50s and 60s. And so every victim has their own path. Survivor has their own way of coping with what happened. And so it very well may be that as a result of coming to grips with what happened, this person has now come forward. We'll keep an eye on it.

Mark Weaver, thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Ingenet. Now, after Mark and I recorded that breakdown of the charges, I learned the victim's identity in this case and the fact that she came forward. She posted on Facebook in late May after coming forward. No one can use my past against me. I'll sit at the table, look you in the eye, and tell my story from beginning to end. No edits.

No filters. I own every mistake, every failure, every scar I picked up along the way. I've already faced the darkest chapters of my life and made peace with them. They don't control me anymore. They built me. What's tea for you is my testimony. What you whisper about I've already survived, and what tried to break me is the very proof that I'm still standing. I am not ashamed of where I've been. I'm proud of how I made it out.

The prosecutor issued a statement. Mark Tocallvi said this investigation is a perfect example of how victims are protected and served regardless of the name or title of the perpetrator. The prosecutor's office and the sheriff's office worked seamlessly in this effort. Chad Esser will have to be extradited to Ohio to answer to these charges. For now, he remains in jail in Florida, and we'll let you know what happens with this case. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanot Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.