Sand Springs Substitute Teacher Accused Of Raping 14-Year-Old Student

A Sand Springs substitute teacher was arrested Sunday and booked on complaints of raping a 14-year-old student.

Police said Steven Marcus Beard, 37, will be charged with 2nd degree rape of a minor, lewd molestation of a minor under 16, and lewd proposal to a minor.

According to the arrest report, the girl's mother contacted Sand Springs authorities after she found text messages of a sexual nature on her daughter's cell phone. When she asked her daughter about the texts, the girl said they were from a teacher who substituted at her school. Police said she identified the man as Beard.

Police said the text messages were sent on July 29. Along with several sexual texts, police found a photo of the girl and an Asian male in a room together.

Details of the texts and any other incidents were redacted from the report by police.

Sunday, Sand Springs Police arrested Beard at his home in the 4900 block of South Barr Drive in Sand Springs. He was arrested initially for lewd proposals to a minor.  More charges were added following an interview with police.

Beard was booked into a Tulsa County jail Monday afternoon. His bond is set at $100,000.