Chad Essert’s resignation is effective July 9, the same day village officials had planned a removal hearing.
BETHEL, OH — Bethel Police Chief Chad Essert has resigned after being indicted on 70 felony sex crime counts tied to allegations from 2005 to 2010, village officials said Friday.
The resignation ends Essert’s role as the top police official in the Clermont County village but does not affect the criminal case against him. The 44-year-old Blanchester man has pleaded not guilty in Clermont County Common Pleas Court to 56 counts of sexual battery and 14 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Mayor Jay Dee Noble II said he accepted Essert’s resignation in a letter released Friday. The resignation is effective July 9. Noble said the village solicitor’s office had been investigating allegations first brought to the village by the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office. If Essert had not resigned, Noble said, a hearing would have been held July 9 before Village Council to consider removing him from office. The mayor previously said he was “deeply disturbed” after learning of Essert’s arrest and the indictment. Essert had been on paid administrative leave since May 8 while the village reviewed his conduct.
A Clermont County grand jury indicted Essert on June 11. Prosecutors said the alleged offenses happened between August 2005 and 2010, when Essert was an instructor with the Young Marines and a teacher at Scarlet Oaks Career Campus in Sharonville. Authorities said the alleged victim was his student during that period and that the alleged offenses occurred in multiple places in Clermont and Hamilton counties. The indictment was first returned as a secret indictment and was later unsealed. Court filings say the alleged victim was 13 when prosecutors contend the inappropriate sexual contact began and 17 when it ended. Essert is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Essert was arrested without incident at 7:06 p.m. June 11 in Seminole, Florida, by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Tactical Investigations Section, officials said. He was taken to the Pinellas County Jail before Clermont County deputies took custody of him at about 4:27 a.m. June 18 and returned him to Ohio. He was booked into the Clermont County Jail that evening. Prosecutors have said all 70 charges are third-degree felonies. If convicted on all counts, Essert could face a maximum sentence of 280 years in prison. Clermont County Sheriff Chris Stratton said the indictment showed that “no one is above the law.”
Essert appeared June 22 before Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Victor Haddad and entered not guilty pleas. Haddad set bond at $500,000 after prosecutors sought $1 million and defense attorney Jay Clark argued for a lower amount. Prosecutor Laura Baron Allen told the court the allegations described a prolonged pattern of grooming and sexual exploitation, not a single lapse in judgment. Clark said outside court that Essert denied the allegations. “He did not have an inappropriate relationship with her,” Clark said. Essert posted bond the next morning and was released from jail.
The bond issue drew attention because Essert was released without electronic monitoring. Clark asked the court to place him on home lockdown with electronic monitoring, but Haddad said Clermont County Common Pleas Court did not have that option. Court records showed Essert surrendered his passport and was barred from leaving Ohio as a bond condition. Local reporting found Clermont County has electronic monitoring in its municipal court system, which handles misdemeanor cases, but not in Common Pleas Court, where felony cases are prosecuted. Prosecutors declined to comment on the monitoring issue.
The case also brought new attention to Essert’s past law enforcement employment. Local reports said Essert began working as Bethel’s police chief in fall 2021 after previously serving as police chief in Fayetteville. The Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office said the current indictment is independent of and unrelated to an earlier investigation reported by local media. Officials have said the allegations in the indictment surfaced during a separate review of Essert. Noble’s resignation letter said the village’s review began after information was brought to Bethel’s attention by the sheriff’s office.
Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said the investigation showed that victims are protected and served regardless of the name or title of the person accused. Stratton thanked Tekulve’s office for its support and said the indictment reflected a shared commitment to enforcing the law. Authorities said the investigation remains open. They have asked anyone who believes they may have been a victim of similar conduct to contact law enforcement. The public record so far names one alleged victim. Officials have not said whether investigators are reviewing additional allegations.
The criminal case remains in Clermont County Common Pleas Court. Essert was scheduled for a pretrial hearing July 7, and his resignation takes effect July 9. Village officials have not announced a permanent replacement for police chief. The case now moves on two tracks: the village transition after Essert’s resignation and the felony prosecution that could carry decades in prison if he is convicted.
Author note: Last updated July 7, 2026.