12-year-old takes stand to testify against retired officer accused of raping her, other kids at ex-wife's day care

TOWSON, Md. — Baltimore County prosecutors called a 12-year-old girl to the stand Tuesday to testify about the day care van driver and former police officer accused of sexually assaulting her and at least three other young victims.

The trial of 59-year-old James Stanley Weems Jr. began with testimony from his ex-wife, Shanteari Weems, who shot him twice in a D.C. hotel in 2022 after learning police were investigating allegations that he’d abused multiple children at her day care, Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owings Mills, Maryland. Details about the shooting, as well as the charges relating to three of the other four alleged victims, were barred from trial.

Content warning: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual abuse of children. Reader discretion is advised.

Shanteari, who has since divorced Weems and changed her last name to Young, said her then-husband was always friendly with the children at the day care but had a special relationship with the then-10-year-old alleged victim in this case. WUSA9 is choosing not to use the girl’s name because of her young age and will instead refer to her as “J.V.”, for “juvenile victim.”

Shanteari said Weems, who took up the job driving children to and from school in the day care’s van after classes resumed following the pandemic shutdown, gave the 10-year-old the special job of sitting up front and opening and closing the door for other kids. She said he would always give J.V. snacks and talk about her.

“He would say things like, ‘[J.V.] is my little buddy. My little helper,” Shanteari said.

Shanteari described the then-10-year-old as “bubbly but easy to persuade.” Prosecutors described her in opening statements as having a “slight delay in processing” and noted she had an IEP, or individualized education plan, at school.

“That might have been one of the reasons he chose her,” prosecutor Zarena Sita, from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, said during opening statements.

Prosecutors told jurors they would get to hear from J.V. herself before the end of the trial – and then called her as their third witness in the case Tuesday afternoon. J.V., who is now 12, took the stand hesitantly holding a teddy bear that was given to her by a group called Bikers Against Child Abuse. Several members of the group sat in the public gallery and observed during her testimony.

In at times graphic detail, Sita questioned J.V. about the allegations against Weems. J.V. told jurors that Weems showed her videos of “people naked” on his cellphone while assaulting her. She was able to identify the specific Baltimore-area elementary school outside of which she said the van was parked on Weems’ usual route picking up other kids from the day care. She also corroborated Shanteari’s testimony, saying Weems would give her “chips and donuts” as snacks.

“At the time this was happening, did you think Mr. James was being nice to you?” Sita asked.

“Yes,” J.V. said.

Prior to her testimony, J.V.’s great uncle testified that she was socially awkward and could “shut down” when she was pressed too hard for answers by adults. She appeared to do so several times during direct examination and frequently said she didn’t know or couldn’t remember the answers to questions posed by Sita.

During his opening statement Tuesday, Weems’ attorney, Thomas Pavlinic, told jurors he would show them the reasonable doubt in the case. He worked hard Tuesday to do that – asking J.V. questions that, on multiple occasions, led her to either deny or contradict testimony she’d given when questioned by Sita. J.V. seemed confused right off the bat by questions from Pavlinic about where another child was in the van during the alleged rape and disputed testimony from earlier in the day by her uncle.

Pavlinic repeatedly asked J.V. if prosecutors had helped her remember things prior to her testimony – suggesting, without outright saying so, that they’d coached her. On several occasions, J.V. appeared to agree with that. During one particular back-and-forth with Pavlinic she denied having a memory of the alleged incident in the van.

“As you’re sitting here today, do you really have a memory of [the alleged assault]," Pavlinic asked.

“No,” J.V. said.

“Are you saying these things because you feel that you have to say them?” Pavlinic followed up.

“I don’t know,” J.V. said.

Sita worked to rehabilitate J.V.’s testimony on redirect, reminding jurors that J.V. had a history of shutting down in stressful situations.

“Did (co-counsel) Miss Lisa or I ever tell you what to say?” Sita asked.

“Yes,” J.V. said.

“What did we tell you?” Sita asked.

“To tell the truth,” J.V. replied.

Weems’ trial was set to resume Wednesday morning and was expected to take at least the remainder of the week. His attorney said Tuesday that Weems himself planned to take the stand in his own defense.

“You’ll be able to see him and hear him and judge his credibility about what really happened in the van,” Pavlinic told jurors during his opening statement.

If convicted of the most serious count against him, second-degree rape, Weems would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of up to life behind bars. Prior to trial, prosecutors notified the judge they intended to seek enhanced penalties against Weems if he is convicted of any of the counts of rape he faces.