Lil Kidz Kastle day care: James Weems Jr. faces more charges

Husband of day care owner in Baltimore County indicted on additional sex abuse charges

11/9/2022 4:01 p.m. EST

6/16/22—Exterior of the Baltimore County Courts Building in Towson.

James Weems Jr., a former Baltimore Police officer who was accused of sexually abusing two children at his wife's day care in Owings Mills, has been indicted in Baltimore County Circuit Court on 12 additional counts including rape, sexual abuse of a minor and assault. The Baltimore County Courts Building in Towson is pictured in this photo from June 16, 2022. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)

James Weems Jr. — whose wife told police she shot him at a hotel in Washington, D.C., after she learned he was accused of sexually abusing children at her day care in Owings Mills — is now charged in the assaults of two other minors.

Weems, 57, of Randallstown, was indicted on Sept. 12 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on 12 additional counts, including rape, sexual abuse of a minor and assault. Court documents allege that the offenses happened between Aug. 1, 2021, and July 3, 2022, but do not provide more information.

He had previously been facing 21 counts related to two children.

His attorney, Thomas Pavlinic, said on Wednesday that he could not comment. He recently filed a demand for a bill of particulars and requested a hearing in the case.

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During an earlier bail review hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita said law enforcement was in the process of interviewing the 93 children who had been to Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center and stated that there were “going to be additional charges.” Circuit Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. ordered Weems to continue to be held without bond in the Baltimore County Detention Center.

Shanteari Weems (left) and James Weems (right) (GoFundMe, LinkedIn)

The sexual abuse allegations first surfaced after Weems’ wife, Shanteari, shot him on July 21 at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C., and then told law enforcement that her husband was “a child molester,” D.C. Metropolitan Police reported.

She faces charges including possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and is set to appear in D.C. Superior Court on Nov. 28, according to court records.

Weems joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1996 and medically retired in 2005. He stayed on as a contractor until 2008.

State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said police are finishing up interviews. At the moment, law enforcement does not believe that those will lead to anything else, he said.

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The children, he said, range in age from 8 to 12.

A trial in the case is scheduled to begin on May 22, 2023, court records state.

dylan.segelbaum@thebaltimorebanner.com

Dylan Segelbaum

dylan.segelbaum@thebaltimorebanner.com