BETHEL, Ohio — The Bethel Village Council is scheduled to vote Monday on confirming Scott Humphrey as the village’s new police chief, moving to fill a position left vacant since the previous chief’s indictment on dozens of felony sex-crime charges.
The council will meet in a special session at 6 p.m. in council chambers at 120 N. Main St., with Mayor Jay Dee Noble II presiding, according to a meeting agenda posted by the village. Council members are set to discuss and vote on confirming Humphrey’s appointment, which the agenda says carries certain contingencies.
The vacancy opened after then-Chief Chad Essert, 44, of Blanchester, was indicted by a Clermont County grand jury in June on 70 felony counts, including 56 counts of sexual battery and 14 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutor’s office said the charges stem from conduct alleged to have occurred between 2005 and 2010, while Essert worked as an instructor with the Young Marines and as a teacher at Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville. Essert was taken into custody in Pinellas County, Florida, and extradited to Clermont County, according to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
In the weeks after Essert’s indictment, the village posted a job listing seeking “an experienced law enforcement professional” to lead the department, with a starting salary of $70,000 to $80,000 a year, according to the village.
Monday’s agenda also includes a vote on Resolution 1172, addressing budget commission determinations and tax levies to be certified to the Clermont County Auditor, according to the agenda. Council plans to waive standard reading procedures to adopt the resolution. The meeting will include time for public comment, the agenda shows.
Suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Village of Bethel and the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office.