What to Know
- Shawn Westmoreland, 49, of West Chester, pleaded guilty Monday to rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault.
- He was sentenced to serve 14 to 28 years behind bars followed by 15 years of probation.
- Westmoreland was first arrested in Exton, Pennsylvania, in June of 2017 after assaulting 3 juveniles over the span of several years.
A former Bucks County youth football coach has been sentenced to state prison for sexually assaulting underage girls.
Shannon "Shawn" Westmoreland, 49, of West Chester, pleaded guilty Monday to rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault. He was sentenced to serve 14 to 28 years behind bars followed by 15 years of probation.
Westmoreland was first arrested at the Exton Mall in Exton, Pennsylvania, in June of 2017 and charged with sexually assaulting three juveniles over a period between 1999 and 2015.
Westmoreland assaulted at least one of the victims while he coached with the Bensalem Rambler's Athletic Association in 2005. The victim was 15 at the time, police said.
Another victim was assaulted over the course of several years, from when she was four years old until she was nine or 10 years old, police said.
A third juvenile was assaulted over the course of 12 years, from when the child was six years old in 1999 until 2011.
"For many years, I have been haunted by what was done to me," one of the victims wrote in a statement to the court. "Although I'm still healing, this is one more step in the process."
Before his arrest in 2017, Westmoreland apologized to one of his victims in a phone call obtained by officials, telling her he did not know why he molested her but that it was their secret and he had not told anyone else, according to the Deputy District Attorney. Westmoreland also thanked the victim for not going to police.
Westmoreland was scheduled to appear for trial on Oct. 22, 2018, but never showed up. U.S. Marshals and Bucks County detectives captured him a week later in Daytona Beach, Florida.
