A former Sand Springs substitute teacher whose 2013 lewd molestation case once rattled the community is back behind bars. On Monday night, May 11, a judge ordered his suspended sentence revoked and Tulsa County deputies located and arrested 51‑year‑old Steven Marcus Beard, according to court records and law‑enforcement accounts. Beard is scheduled to appear in Tulsa County court for arraignment on Monday, June 8, 2026.
Beard worked as a substitute in Sand Springs in 2012 and later faced a slate of felony charges tied to that investigation. He was charged with 10 counts of lewd molestation, one count of lewd or indecent proposals to a child, a charge for furnishing alcohol to a minor and possession of child pornography; in 2013 he pleaded guilty and was given a 20‑year sentence with the first 10 years to be served and the remainder suspended, as reported by News On 6.
On Monday night, deputies with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office located and arrested Beard in Tulsa County, officials told KOKH. That report states a judge last week signed an order revoking the suspended portion of Beard’s sentence, which triggered his return to custody. Authorities have not released further details about the grounds for the revocation or whether additional charges accompany the order.
What Revocation Could Mean
Under Oklahoma law, a suspended sentence may not be revoked without a petition from the district attorney and a subsequent revocation hearing before the sentencing judge. The statute that frames that process, 22 O.S. § 991b, requires the state to present competent evidence at a hearing before any part of a suspended term can be reinstated and also allows for intermediate sanctions in some technical‑violation cases, according to the Oklahoma statutes.
Local Context
Beard’s return to custody comes amid a string of investigations in the Tulsa region involving educators and others who worked with children. Local reporting has documented similar cases this year, for example a former Drumright teacher who was arrested earlier in 2026 on multiple counts of lewd molestation, underscoring how investigators often coordinate with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on these probes, according to KRMG.
Prosecutors and the court will have their first public opportunity to address the revocation and next steps at Beard’s June 8 arraignment. If the judge orders the suspended portion reinstated, he could be required to serve the remainder of his original sentence. Requests for additional comment from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office and the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office were not immediately returned, per KOKH.
