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February 17, 2005
Defrocked Baltimore Priest Guilty Of Child Sex Abuse Charges
February 17, 2005 [Associated Press]
BALTIMORE - A jury convicted defrocked priest Maurice Blackwell of three of the four child sex abuse counts involving Dontee Stokes, an altar boy who shot Blackwell years later.
The verdict follows roughly 5.5 hours of jury deliberations over two days.
Blackwell showed no sign of emotion as the verdicts were read. He was acquitted on one charge, the abuse charge dating from 1989. The three guilty verdicts were for offenses that allegedly took place in 1990 and later.
After the verdict, Stokes said he felt vindicated. Stokes said, "Mr. Blackwell was at no point on trial. It was all about me." Stokes admitted he is not a perfect person, but said he was right and Blackwell was wrong.
Blackwell, 58, was accused of molesting Stokes, 29, when Blackwell was a Roman Catholic priest and Stokes a teenager in Baltimore. Stokes shot Blackwell three years ago.
Defense attorney Kenneth Ravenell said he and his client are disappointed with the verdict and the way the case was handled. He objected to police testimony about other victims of abuse, and said the case was decided on evidence the jury shouldn't have heard.
Ravenell said he will seek a retrial. If that fails, he said he would appeal that decision.
The attorney who defended Stokes at his trial for the shooting, Warren Brown, said Stokes stood up for "all those who were afraid to come forward." Brown said there are no plans for a civil suit, debunking claims that Stokes was after money.
Prosecutor Jo Anne Stanton praised the jury, saying it rose to confront a difficult task. She praised Stokes' bravery for coming forward and facing the attacks on his credibility.
Meanwhile, another man who said he was abused as a teenager by Blackwell, Robert Martin, 50, of Baton Rouge, La., said justice was done. Martin was at Stokes' side throughout the trial.
Blackwell was stripped of his church authority after acknowledging having a sexual relationship with a teenage boy in the early 1970s. The Vatican defrocked him in October.
Posted by Nancy at February 17, 2005 12:21 AM