Jury finds driver of nursery van shot by ex-wife guilty of rape and sexual assault

A Baltimore County jury found Friday evening that the driver of a daycare van was accused of sexually assaulting a girl, guilty of second-degree rape and other charges.

Police arrested 59-year-old retired Baltimore Police officer James Weems Jr. in July 2022 after his then-wife, Shanteari Weems, shot him in a Washington, D.C. hotel room as authorities closed down 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 exhibiting obscene objects to a minor between March 2020 and July 2022.

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

The trial began Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Jurors did not hear how the grand jury indicted Weems on 33 counts, including similar charges related to alleged sexual abuse of three other children. This week’s hearing dealt with charges related to only one victim.

Read the whole story On the Baltimore Sun’s website.