TOLEDO, Ohio — A former foster parent and Springfield Township firefighter who was arrested in August on federal sex crimes against children now faces additional charges in Lucas County.
A grand jury indicted Jeremy Chesser, of Maumee, Wednesday on charges of gross sexual imposition, endangering children, two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and 15 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor. According to the indictment the charges stem from incidents that happened between November 2007 and August 2023.
Chesser, who was initially arrested in August, also faces three sex crime charges in federal court.
In federal court, Chesser faces two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. In the first count, he is accused of producing sexually explicit material involving a minor victim under two years old from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, 2022. The second count accused Chesser of producing sexually explicit material with a victim aged 13 to 14 between Jan. 1, 2022, to on or about Aug. 30, 2023.
Chesser was also indicted on a charge of receipt and distribution of child pornography between the dates of Jan. 1, 2013, and Aug. 30, 2023.
His full indictment in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas can be read below:
Authorities accuse Chesser of using the messaging app Kik to send sexually explicit messages to other users, including describing sexual activities he said he was doing with the minors as he was sending the message.
In August, authorities said Chesser had been talking on Kik with an FBI New Haven Online Certified Employee posing as a parent on the app. Chesser told the FBI employee that he wanted to have sex with the employee's 12-year-old daughter.
Chesser is the father of 10 children, several of whom are foster children. He was also fostering children at the time of his arrest.
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