Ex-football coach sexually assaulted 3 children, police say

BENSALEM, Pa. -- Police in Bensalem, Bucks County have charged a former youth football coach with the sexual assault of three children.

Forty-seven-year-old Shannon "Shawn" Westmoreland of West Chester, Chester County was taken into police custody Wednesday at the Exton Mall in West Whiteland Township.

He is charged with Rape, Rape of a Child under Age of 13, Rape of a Child, Statutory Sexual Assault, Indecent Assault of a Child and other related offenses.

Police say Westmoreland sexually assaulted a 15-year-old in 2005 while he was a football coach with the Bensalem Ramblers Athletic Association.

He is also charged with sexually assaulting another child from the age of 4 until she was 9 or 10, police say.

Westmoreland is also charged with sexually assaulting a third child when she was 6-years-old in 1999. Police say he again sexually assaulted her in 2011 when she was 18.

Police say the investigation has gone on for more than six months. They will not detail how the alleged abuse came to light now years later.

They are concerned there may be more victims.

"Although it is my fervent prayer and hope that there are no other victims, it is my fear that there may so be," Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said.

Police say Westmoreland lived in Bensalem and was homeless for a while. They say he was currently staying in West Chester where he spent some time living in a homeless shelter.

Investigators are not aware of any other jobs where he may have had contact with young people.

Anyone with information regarding this case or any additional victims, especially anybody associated with Bensalem Ramblers or the cheerleading squad between 2005 and 2011 when Westmoreland was with the team, should contact Bensalem police at (215) 633-3719.