Harmontown Daycare Owner Found Guilty of Child Neglect

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

A Harmontown woman arrested on multiple charges of child neglect for failing to report sex crimes against minors at a daycare she ran was found guilty by a jury last week.

Sherry Westmoreland, 61, was found guilty on Oct. 18 on four charges of child neglect and one charge of failing to report a crime. She was originally indicted on six charges of contributing to the delinquency or neglect of minors. She was found not guilty on two of the charges.

Her sentencing has been deferred to a later date to allow attorneys time to prepare for the sentencing hearing.

Westmoreland’s husband, John Westmoreland, 47,  is serving a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty in December 2018 to four counts of touching a child for lustful purposes.

According to the indictment, Westmoreland molested several girls under the age of 12 between May 2014 and August 2016 while the girls were at the Westmoreland’s home at 17 CR 508 in Harmontown.

Sherry Westmoreland ran a babysitting service and the reported victims attended the home daycare that was not licensed by the state, according to court records.

The investigation began in July 2018 after one of the victims reported the alleged abuse to their parents. Others followed.

Prosecutors said Sherry knew about the abuse but failed to report it.