Family of alleged daycare sex abuse victim testifies, FBI tracks porn searches
BALTIMORE -- The family of a 12-year-old girl who said she was molested by a former Baltimore City police officer at his wife's daycare in Owings Mills took the stand at his trial Wednesday.
Their testimony followed that of the alleged victim the day before, who said the defendant, James Weems Jr., touched her inappropriately and showed her pornography when he picked her up from school in the daycare's van.
Weems is fighting charges he molested multiple children who attended Lil Kidz Kastle. He regularly drove the van taking them to and from the daycare.
Prosecutors claimed the molestation happened in 2022.
Alleged victim's mother takes the stand
One by one, the alleged victim's relatives testified they were stunned when the girl began looking at pornography on a tablet during a family gathering.
"I was overwhelmed. I had a lot of questions… At first, it was hard to believe," her mother told the jury.
She said her daughter later confessed that "Mr. James" first showed her the website on his phone while inside the daycare's van.
The child's grandmother testified, "She was crying. Everybody was shocked."
The aunt of the alleged victim testified, "Before, she was bubbly." But now, "She is very defiant. She goes against the grain of anything we ask her to do as simple as brushing her teeth."
Family members said the alleged victim is now in therapy.
Lead defense attorney Thomas Pavlinic tried to highlight inconsistencies in the girl's account and question who else had access to that tablet and the thoroughness of the police investigation.
Detectives were never able to access the daycare's password-protected camera system.
The tablet belonged to the aunt who said she never accessed that website or viewed pornography on the device.
The 12-year-old took the witness stand Tuesday afternoon while clutching a teddy bear provided to her by Bikers Against Child Abuse, an organization that helps child victims nationwide.
Former wife speaks
Jurors already heard from Shanteari Weems, the defendant's former wife, who shot him during a confrontation about the allegations. They were not allowed to hear about that shooting.
Shanteari also spoke last year to WUSA in Washington from prison, where she is serving a four-year sentence.
She testified she and her husband used the same website he allegedly showed the victim in their personal sex life, although she said they never looked at videos depicting "teen" or "young" performers.
The defendant's lawyer said in his opening statement, "He was using pornography, and he had sort of an addiction to pornography, and he had some sites on his phone. But never, ever, even one time did he give [the victim] his phone and ask her to look at these sites."
After learning of the allegations, Shanteari testified, "I had a lot of questions, trying to figure out what was going on… I was overwhelmed, distressed."
She said her husband "…was very calm. He didn't ask any questions."
FBI tracks phone, pornography searches
Jurors heard from FBI Special Agent Michael Fowler who was able to access the defendant's phone location and Google search history, which revealed he was accessing pornographic websites during the times the daycare's van was supposed to be traveling to various Baltimore County elementary schools to pick up children.
The defendant searched for pornography involving "teens" but the performers were all adults, according to prior court testimony.
The FBI outlined repeated pornographic searches over six months, showing the jury in detail the search terms, locations and times the pornography was accessed.
Prosecution rests
Late Wednesday, the prosecution agreed to nol pros, or essentially dismiss, two counts, including one involving a sexual act inside the daycare van.
The judge rejected a motion to dismiss other counts against the defendant that happened inside the daycare.
The defense argued they should be dismissed because Mr. Weems did not have a supervisory role outside of his role as a van driver.
The defense also argued two of the misdemeanor second-degree assault charges were filed outside of a one-year statute of limitations.
The judge disagreed and a majority of the case remains intact.
The trial is expected to wrap up this week and Mr. Weems' lawyers said he will testify in his defense.
