Westmoreland County man behind bars after being accused of sexually assaulting babysitter

WESTMORELAND COUNTY — A Westmoreland County man is behind bars after being accused of sexually assaulting the young girl babysitting his children.

Locust Street is usually buzzing with families and little kids playing, but on Friday, doors were shut and locked.

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Vincent Beard, who lives with his family on this quiet street, was booked into the Westmoreland County Prison.

He was charged with raping a 15-year-old girl who was babysitting his three kids.

Police say the teenage girl was babysitting while Beard and his wife went out for the Fourth of July. The victim said that when the couple got home around 1 a.m., the wife went to bed highly intoxicated, and Beard started asking the teen uncomfortable questions and touching her.

She told police she didn’t yell out because the kids were sleeping and that Beard pinned her arms to the ground and raped her.

The victim said that before Beard went to bed, he told her not to tell anyone.

Kids were home when we knocked on the door, trying to get his wife’s side of things, but she didn’t want to talk.

Women in the community wanted to share this message with the young girl:

“Whoever you are, what happened to you was not your fault at all. Don’t let people shame you into thinking you had a part in what happened to you.”

Beard is still behind bars, and his bail is set at $125,000. We tried to reach out to his lawyer, but his office was already closed for the day.

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