Man who was shot by wife in D.C. and is accused of sexual abuse while working at Baltimore County day care is facing multiple charges

Baltimore County Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man shot last week at a hotel in Washington, D.C. by his wife, who accused him of molesting children at her Owings Mills day care.

James S. Weems Jr., 57, who retired from Baltimore Police in 2005, faces “multiple charges,” according to a news release issued by the police department on Tuesday morning. The criminal charges were not specified, but the release said Weems faced allegations he’d “sexually abused at least three children while working at a day care facility.”

Police said Weems is hospitalized in police custody in Washington D.C. “pending extradition.”

Allegations of sexual abuse surfaced publicly after Weems’ wife, Shanteari Weems, 50, of Randallstown, was arrested on Thursday in the shooting of her husband at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in D.C.

She told police she shot him because she believed he’d molested children at her day care, Lil Kidz Castle, according to charging documents. Court filings said police recovered a notebook with handwritten messages, including “I’m going to shoot” him “but not kill him” and “I want these kids to get justice.”

Shanteari Weems has been charged in D.C. Superior Court with assault with intent to kill and assault with a dangerous weapon. A preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday was continued to Friday morning.

Her attorney, Joseph Fay, said Tuesday he and his co-counsel are “looking forward to providing Ms. Weems with a vigorous defense.”

Baltimore County Police said after the shooting they were investigating “the circumstances surrounding the incident that occurred in D.C.,” but declined to provide a date for when the investigation began or what possible crimes were under investigation “due to the sensitivity of the case.”

The news release on Tuesday said detectives began to investigate Weems “earlier this month” when they were notified of sexual abuse allegations.

The day care, Lil Kidz Kastle, was closed “while an investigation moves forward,” Sgt. Gladys Brown of Baltimore County Police said Sunday.

D.C. Police were called to the hotel around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, after hotel employees reportedly checked on the occupants after a fire alarm went off and saw blood on the wall.

Officers wrote in charging documents that Shanteari Weems wouldn’t open the door when police arrived, threatened to shoot herself if they entered and that the man she shot was a child molester.

A man in the room said through the door he was shot in the head and leg, the documents said.

Police forcibly entered the room and took him to a hospital. His injuries are not life-threatening, according to police.

Shanteari Weems told police, according to charging documents, that several children at the day care she runs had recently told her that her husband of five years had molested them. She said she’d reported the allegations to authorities, police said.

Court filings say Shanteari Weems told officers she went to meet with her husband on Wednesday and “repeatedly” asked him about “accusations of child molestation in Maryland.”

As she received more calls and messages about the allegations, she became more emotional and started a conversation with her husband again on Thursday, the records said. It escalated to an argument, she told police, and she shot when when he stood up at one point and started to “go towards” her.

Baltimore Sun reporter Lilly Price contributed to this article.

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