Retired Baltimore officer convicted on all counts for sexually abusing young girl at ex-wife's day care

TOWSON, Md. — A jury deliberated for more than five hours Friday before convicting a retired Baltimore Police officer on all counts for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl at his ex-wife's day care center.

James Stanley Weems Jr., 59, was charged in 2022 with molesting four children at Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owings Mills, Maryland. He began trial Monday on 10 counts related to just one of those alleged victims who was 10 years old at the time. Prosecutors ultimately submitted six of those counts to the jury: three counts of sexually abusing a minor; two counts of second-degree rape; and one count of displaying obscene materials to a minor.

On Friday, jurors convicted Weems on all six counts, according to Baltimore CBS affiliate WJZ. Judge Michael Finifter ordered Weems immediately remanded into custody and held without bond until his sentencing.

Prosecutors accused Weems of grooming the girl, saying he used snacks and special privileges in his role as the day care’s van driver to build up a relationship with her – which, they said, he used to show her pornography and ultimately to sexually assault her in the van and the day care center. An FBI agent specializing in location data testified that the search history obtained from Weems’ phone showed he’d looked at pornographic materials more than 170 times between January and July 2022 while in the vicinity of several Baltimore-area elementary schools where he dropped off and picked up children for the day care.

Weems’ ex-wife, Shanteari, testified that the girl was delayed for her age and mostly kept to herself and her sister at the day care. She recalled Weems talking about her a lot, calling her his “little buddy” and “My little helper.” During his own testimony, Weems denied any inappropriate relationships with any of the children and said he only remembered the alleged victim, who is now 12, as a nice little girl.

Prosecutors told jurors Friday during closing statements that Weems was putting on a ruse and criticized his defense attorney’s efforts to portray the young girl’s initial denials and reluctance to talk about the alleged assault as proof that her testimony at trial was coached.

“This is why abusers choose children,” assistant state’s attorney Zarena Sita said. “It is certainly why you chose a child who doesn’t have a lot of friends. Who is slightly delayed.”

Weems, a veteran of both the U.S. Marine Corps and Maryland Army National Guard who later served with the Baltimore Police Department, testified that he was suffering from an addiction to pornography in 2022. He said he would look at porn nearly any chance he got, including while waiting to pick up children at school and even while driving them to and from the day care. But, he denied ever showing porn to any of the children or touching them inappropriately. 

Jurors were barred from hearing a number of details about the case, including that Weems’ now ex-wife Shanteari shot him twice in a D.C. hotel room in July 2022 after learning about the charges. They also heard nothing about the three other alleged victims, including a second young girl who claimed Weems gave her the same special privileges in the day care van as the alleged victim in this case.

Weems was represented by attorneys Thomas Pavlinic and Thomas McDowell. During closing arguments, Pavlinic urged jurors to acquit his client, saying the alleged victim’s reluctant and at times contradictory testimony on the stand should give them more than enough reasonable doubt.

“I have empathy for [the alleged victim],” Pavlinic said. “I think she is a victim in this case. Not of Mr. Weems, but of the system.”

Because Weems was convicted of second-degree rape, under Maryland state law he will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors have informed the judge presiding over the case they intend to seek enhanced penalties.

Shanteari pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated assault and carrying a pistol without a license and was sentenced in February 2023 to four years in prison by a D.C. Superior Court judge. The sentence shocked both Shanteari's attorneys and prosecutors, who had negotiated a plea deal calling for a maximum sentence of two years behind bars. Shanteari has been serving her sentence at a federal facility in Kentucky and was transported back to Maryland last month to testify at her ex-husband's trial.

Weems still faces an additional 23 counts relating to the other alleged victims, including three more counts of second-degree rape. Trial dates have not yet been set for those charges.