TOLEDO, Ohio — After a Springfield Township firefighter and foster care advocate was arrested after a search warrant Wednesday and charged with receiving and distributing child pornography, his wife has been struggling to process the situation.
"They came in around 12:45 (a.m. on Wednesday) and it has been, quite literally, my worst nightmare ever since," Teesha Chesser said of the arrest of her husband, Jeremy Chesser.
Jeremy, who, according to a criminal complaint from the U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio, admitted to committing sexual acts against children as young as two years old and posing as a teenager in an attempt to solicit child pornography from children he had fostered in his own home, has since been placed in the Lucas County Jail and put on unpaid administrative leave from the Springfield Township Fire Department.
WTOL 11 previously interviewed the Chessers in May as part of a story during National Foster Care Month. The story was aimed at increasing the number of foster families in Lucas County, and Lucas County Children Services directed WTOL to the Chessers as a model foster family.
Teesha said the situation has broken her family, but it does not define them.
"Obviously, we had no idea this was going on," Teesha said. "Right now, we're just trying to make sense of it all. We're trying to move forward and do what's best and I just need people to be respectful."
Lucas County Children Services has removed six foster children from the family home and taken them back into the agency's care.
Teesha and her father, Darly Walker, said they're beyond heartbroken. Fighting back tears, they described the pain their family is enduring.
"All I can say is it's rough," Walker said. "Seeing your grandkids, six of your grandkids, leave. Just be kind to the kids that are still here, my grandkids that are still here. respect them. Be kind to them. They're going through a rough time."
"I'm trying to wrap my head around it so that eventually I can explain to my children what's going on," Teesha said.
Walker is concerned for the future, too. He said nothing can ever be the same.
"Things are going to get tough," he said. (Teesha) was the stay-at-home mom and took care of all 10 kids."
In addition to the six foster children who were removed from the home, the Chessers have four other kids, two of whom were adopted.
LCCS said it is working with law enforcement on the case but cannot provide much information due to the nature of the alleged crimes. LCCS is working to find a family or trusted adults to place the children with.
"Be kind to my children, because they didn't do anything wrong," Teesha said.
FBI investigators said anyone with more information on this case should contact FBI Toledo at 419-243-6122.