What to Know
- A former Bucks County youth football coach who failed to show up for his child sexual assault trial is now in custody.
- Shannon Westmoreland, 48, was arrested in Daytona Beach, Florida, Monday around 5:30 p.m.
- Westmoreland was supposed to appear in court after he allegedly sexually assaulted three juveniles between 1999 and 2015.
A former Bucks County youth football coach who failed to show up for his child sexual assault trial is now in custody.
Members of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force arrested Shannon Westmoreland, 48, in Daytona Beach, Florida, Monday around 5:30 p.m. He is charged with default in required appearance and failure to appear.
Westmoreland was due to appear in Bucks County court on Oct. 22 after being charged with child sexual assault but didn’t show up for the hearing, investigators said. A warrant was issued for his arrest that same day.
After a week of investigating, deputies with the Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia learned Westmoreland may have fled to Florida, officials said. Deputy Marshals in Philadelphia then informed members of the U.S. Marshal Service Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force about a possible location Westmoreland was hiding at.
Westmoreland was later spotted in a minivan around 5:30 p.m. Monday by Marshal Service investigators on the 500 block of N. Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach, officials said. Deputies then surrounded the vehicle once it stopped and Westmoreland was taken into custody without incident.
He was taken to the Volusia County Jail for processing and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office was notified.
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 allegedly 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 allegedly assaulted over the course of 12 years, from when the child was six years old in 1999 until 2011.
