Police arrest 19-year-old coon in connection with August shooting in West Baltimore

[Willie Wanked Her]

Baltimore Police say investigators have arrested a 19-year-old in connection with an August shooting that left a teenage girl injured in the Callaway-Garrison neighborhood of West Baltimore.

Rashaad Wilson was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder on Oct. 28, police said, and is being held without bail at the Central Booking Intake Facility.

On Aug. 16, officers responded to the 3800 block of Chatham Road around 4:57 p.m. to investigate a report of a shooting, police said. A 17-year-old girl was found with an apparent gunshot wound to the upper body inside a residence and taken to area hospitals, where she was listed in stable condition at the time.

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https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/11/01/arrest-in-august-shooting-west-baltimore/

[Willie Wanked Her]

BALTIMORE -- The former Baltimore Police officer accused of molesting children at his then-wife's daycare in Baltimore County told his side of the story, testifying for several hours in his defense at his trial on Thursday.

James Weems Jr. told the jury life was good, that he frequently traveled and ate at fancy restaurants with his wife Shanteari until it all crumbled in July of 2022 when he was accused of molesting children at Lil Kidz Kastle, the successful daycare she owned in Owings Mills.

Weems categorically denied ever abusing children in his regular job driving the daycare's van.

His lead defense attorney, Thomas Pavlinic, declined to comment to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren when he left the court following Thursday's testimony.

Pavlinic said he would speak following the verdict.

Admits to watching porn in daycare van
Weems described the now 12-year-old victim who testified against him as "a nice little girl."

He admitted he regularly looked at pornography while driving the daycare van but testified he "leaned over" so the children could not see it.

Baltimore County Prosecutor Lisa Dever detailed Weems' searches for pornography, which the FBI obtained while analyzing his phone, and how he would search for graphic videos involving "teens" and "grandpa" while he was driving the van from elementary school to elementary school in Baltimore County.

"That's what you liked, you liked the teen, young look," Dever said.

"I just liked the porn," Weems replied.

At one point, the 59-year-old former Marine and Baltimore City Police officer conceded watching the videos was "inappropriate" under re-direct testimony from his lawyer.

Weems explained watching pornography was "just to pass time while I'm waiting" for children to leave school.

The prosecutor later asked, "Isn't it true most of the time you were looking at pornography is when you were with the kids?"

"Probably, yes," Weems answered.

Dever responded, "So your addiction was when you were with children?"

Weems answered, "No."

He also admitted it was possible the children accidentally saw the pornography—and that he would at times hand his phone to them so they could look at an app to identify airplanes.

"It became addictive"
Weems alleged his ex-wife, who later shot him during a confrontation about the allegations, introduced him to porn during their intimate relations.

"It became addictive so I would just go on it when we weren't together," he testified.

But he said he never looked at child porn—and testified he willingly handed over his phone and provided his passcode to police during the investigation.

Shanteari Weems is serving a four-year prison sentence for that shooting and earlier testified for the prosecution.

She divorced him and has since changed her name to Shanteari Young.

Her testimony was the first time the two have been in the same room since that shooting inside a Washington, D.C. hotel.

Investigation concerns
Weems' defense has questioned the thoroughness of the investigation into the allegations and claimed police never photographed the playground where an alleged sexual assault occurred and were unable to get the password to access the daycare's camera system.

The defense also claimed authorities never asked the other children on the bus whether they witnessed the sexual assault of the young victim who testified.

Devers asked, "Is it your testimony you had no supervisory responsibility over these children at all in that daycare?"

Weems responded, "Yes."

He said he was never paid and was trying to help his wife and told the jury, "I just drove the van."

Defense rests
Weems' defense rested its case Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors said they would nol pros or drop several counts. The majority of the case is intact.

The counts jurors will decide when they begin deliberations on Friday:

3 counts of sexual abuse of a minor
2 counts of second-degree rape
1 count of displaying obscene material to a minor.
Closing arguments are expected to begin Friday at 9:30 a.m.

https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/batlimore-officer-james-weems-daycare-porn-molested-baltimore-county/

[Willie Wanked Her]

A Baltimore County jury found a day care van driver accused of sexually abusing a girl guilty of second-degree rape and other charges Friday evening.

Police arrested retired Baltimore Police officer James Weems Jr., 59, in July 2022, after his then-wife Shanteari Weems shot him in a Washington, D.C., hotel room when authorities shut down her Owings Mills daycare, Lil Kidz Kastle.

After five hours of deliberations Friday, jurors found Weems guilty on all six counts: two counts of second-degree rape, three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of displaying obscene matter to a minor between March 2020 and July 2022.

He will return to the Baltimore County Detention Center until his Jan. 8 sentencing.

Prosecutors filed for enhanced penalties in the case because of the victim’s age, meaning he faces a minimum of 15 years without the possibility of parole.

The trial began Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Jurors didn’t hear that grand juries had indicted Weems on another 33 counts, including similar charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of three other children. This week’s trial dealt only with charges related to a single victim.

Attorneys for Weems could not be reached immediately for comment on the verdict.

Weems’ ex-wife, Shanteari, also testified earlier this week. Jurors weren’t told that she shot him in a D.C. hotel room in July 2022, shortly after the state closed her day care center, or that she is serving a prison sentence in a federal facility in Kentucky.

The investigation into James Weems began after relatives of a then-10-year-old girl noticed she was watching pornography on her aunt’s iPad on July 2, 2022, the girl’s mother and grandmother testified this week.

Alarmed, the adults loudly questioned her about who had shown her the videos. The girl told them that “Mr. James,” the van driver at Lil Kidz Kastle, had shown the pornography to her.

Now 12, the girl testified earlier this week that James Weems had also forced her to perform oral sex on him, both at the day care and in the van that dropped her off at school and picked her up in the afternoons.

The Baltimore Sun does not identify people who have been sexually abused without their consent.

In closing arguments, Deputy State’s Attorney Lisa Fox Dever described how she said James Weems took “slow, progressive steps” to gain the trust of a vulnerable girl and take advantage of her. Weems gave the girl snacks no one else received and gave her the coveted job of opening the van’s door, Weems’ ex-wife and family members testified.

In a rebuttal, Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita said that Weems “groomed” the girl, the term experts use to describe how abusers form a relationship with a child before assaulting them.

“Many people warn their children to beware of strangers,” Dever said. “The reality is the person who is going to hurt your children isn’t going to be a stranger, it’s going to be someone they know, someone they like, someone they admire.”

Weems admitted on the stand Thursday that he watched pornography, including while children were inside the van, according to a clip prosecutors played Friday. He denied sexually abusing the girl.

“Why are you gonna show pornography to a child? Why are you gonna be watching it on a bus with kids?” Dever said.

She explained that even if jurors didn’t believe Weems had touched the girl, they could still find him guilty of sex abuse for having knowingly shown her the pornography and exploited her for his own benefit.

Dever argued that the girl had no reason to lie about the abuse. In a forensic interview on July 3, 2022, after she told her family Weems had abused her, the girl didn’t provide many details. But she did tell the interviewer that “Mr. James” had told her not to tell anyone and that she could go to jail, Dever said.

Dever said that while the girl wasn’t ready to talk during that early interview, after two years of therapy she was ready to share more details in court.

Thomas Pavlinic, one of Weems’ attorneys, argued that the girl had lied about the abuse when her family caught her watching pornography and that her accusations didn’t make logical sense.

“You can’t be swayed by emotions,” he told jurors.

Pavlinic said it didn’t make sense that Weems would sexually abuse the girl both in the van, where other children were nearby, and in the day care, with teachers present in the building. He acknowledged that the girl might have seen the pornography on Weems’ phone in the car, but argued that the state hadn’t proven that he showed it to her on purpose.

As an “honorably discharged Marine,” a former Baltimore Police officer and the father of two children who admitted to his addiction to pornography, jurors should believe Weems’ testimony, Pavlinic said.

He also criticized aspects of the police investigation, saying that investigators should have tried harder to access the day care’s camera system after an initial passcode Shanteari Weems provided didn’t work. Pavlinic also said police should’ve taken possession of the aunt’s tablet sooner.

He identified what he called “contradictions” in the girl’s testimony and suggested she was either repeating a 2-year-old lie or that her relatives or prosecutors had nudged her into telling a certain story.

“I have empathy for [the victim]. I think she’s a victim in this case, not of Mr. Weems, but of the system that put her through this,” Pavlinic said.

Have a news tip? Contact Cassidy Jensen at ***@baltsun.com, 443-515-2165 and x.com/@cassidymjensen.

Originally Published: November 1, 2024 at 4:41 PM EDT

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/11/01/james-weems-closings-sex-abuse-trial/

[Willie Wanked Her]

TOWSON, Md. —
The Baltimore County jury in the sex abuse trial of James Weems Jr. reached a guilty verdict Friday on all six counts.

Jurors had six charges to consider, all involving sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree rape and displaying obscene matter to a minor. Weems was arrested on the charges in July 2022.

A preliminary sentencing date has been set for Jan. 8, during which time, Weems faces two life sentences.

The Marine veteran and retired Baltimore City police officer drove a van for his wife's daycare center in Owings Mills, Lil Kidz Castle Daycare Center. The abuse allegedly took place on the center's playground and inside the transport van, investigators said.

During closing arguments on Friday, prosecutors claimed Weems took small, slow, progressive steps to get a 10-year-old girl in his web by giving her favorable treatment and snacks and showing her pornography on his cellphone.

The Baltimore County assistant state's attorney told the jury: "The reality is the person who will hurt your child, it is somebody they know, it is somebody they like or admire ... the person who drives your children from daycare to school."

During the trial, Weems admitted to a porn addiction, watching it while in the daycare's van to pick up children from school. He said he would lean his body and turn the phone so no one could see it.

The prosecutor told the jury: "Was it risky? Yes, it was risky. But was there opportunity? There was. One would think he wouldn't be looking at porn on a van with schoolchildren on it."

Weems' defense attorney argued that while Weems was addicted to porn, he did not intentionally show any pornographic material to the girl, who is now 12, or sexually abuse her. The defense also said: "There is a possibility (the girl inadvertently) accessed porn on his device."

The defense said: "How does an innocent man come to court and try to prove a negative, that something didn't happen? He didn't intentionally give access to the (web) page with pornography on it. He denied all of the sexual allegations. Why wouldn't James be worthy of belief?"

In their final argument, prosecutors claimed Weems was grooming the child, saying: "These types of crimes thrive in secrecy and shame."

Weems' ex-wife, Shanteari Weems, the now-12-year-old alleged victim, relatives and an FBI special agent all testified in the trial over the past week. Shanteari Weems confronted her husband about the allegations and shot him in July 2022 in a Washington, D.C., hotel. She's currently serving a four-year prison sentence for the shooting.

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/james-weems-sex-abuse-trial-verdict/62787405

[Willie Wanked Her]

The Baltimore County jury in the sex abuse trial of James Weems Jr. reached a guilty verdict Friday on all six counts. Jurors had six charges to consider, all involving sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree rape and displaying obscene matter to a minor. Weems was arrested on the charges in July 2022. A preliminary sentencing date has been set for Jan. 8, during which time, Weems faces two life sentences.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jury-convicts-retired-officer-sex-030914732.html