Retired Cop Who Sexually Abused Girl, Later Shot By Then-Wife, Sentenced

OWINGS MILLS, MD — A retired police officer was sentenced to prison this week after raping a child enrolled at an Owings Mills daycare owned by his then-wife, who later shot him, reports said.

Prosecutors told Patch James Stanley Weems Jr. was sentenced to life in prison Monday after being convicted in October 2024 on six counts, including sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree rape of one child.

WJZ said the defendant is a retired officer from the Baltimore Police Department.

The girl who was abused was 10 at the time and is now 13, The Baltimore Banner reported.

"I wish Mr. James did not do those bad things to me," she wrote in a victim impact statement, according to The Banner. "I wish I could stop thinking about them. I just want to be a regular kid again."

Lisa Dever, deputy state's attorney for Baltimore County, said the victim was enrolled at Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center.

Dever told Patch, "The abuse occurred while she was in the daycare and when she was transported on the van to and from school."

The Banner said the investigation started in July 2022 when the victim's loved ones caught her watching pornography and asked where she learned about the website.

"The child testified in court that he would show her adult videos on his phone. The evidence in court showed that he was viewing pornographic websites on his cell phone while waiting for the children to get onto the Van after school. On some occasions[, he] was watching pornography during the morning dropoff from daycare to school," Dever said in a Wednesday email.

WJZ said the defendant's then-wife, known as Shanteari Weems at the time, owned the daycare.

After learning of the allegations, prosecutors said Shanteari Weems traveled to Washington, D.C., where her then-husband was working a security job and staying overnight at a hotel.

Dever said Shanteari Weems shot her then-husband during the confrontation. She is serving four years in a federal women's prison in Kentucky for the shooting.

Court records show that Shanteari Weems later divorced James Weems Jr. and changed her name.