James Weems Jr. on the witness stand. he told about his life before becoming a criminal defendant.

His third wife, Shanteari, ran a successful business in Owings Mills: Lil Kidz Kastle Day Care Center. Meanwhile, he volunteered as a minibus driver and worked in executive protection, providing security for celebrities, royalty and high-net-worth individuals.

Weems said he and his wife travel four to five times a year. They shopped. And they ate at nice restaurants.

“Life was good,” Weems said Thursday at the Baltimore County Courts Building. “It was fine.”

He said no one ever accused him of having inappropriate contact with a child. However, this changed on July 18, 2022, when Baltimore County Police seized his cell phone as part of a sexual abuse investigation.

testify on his behalf hearing Weems, who was sued in Baltimore County Circuit Court on charges of sexual abuse of a minor, rape and displaying obscene material to a child, admitted that he watched pornography on his phone in the van while waiting to pick up children from various elementary schools. However, he said he was taking precautions and denied all allegations that he sexually abused a 10-year-old girl.

Weems answered “No” to questions from his lead attorney, Thomas Pavlinic, about whether he forced the girl to perform oral sex in the van or at the day care. “Like hell.”

Weems, 59, of Towson, told the jury he served in the Marine Corps, Maryland Army National Guard and Baltimore Police Department. He was medically retired from the force as a result of a traffic accident while on duty, but remained on duty as a contractor until 2008.

According to Weems’ statement, when her youngest son was between 9 months and 1 year old, she brought him to Lil Kidz Kastle Day Care Center. This is how he met Shanteari, the woman who would become his third wife, and the two married in 2017.

Weems stated that he did not watch porn before having a relationship. But he said he started watching it every day.

“I think Ms. Weems needed pornography to have sex,” he testified. “It became a kind of addiction.”

While waiting to pick up students from the following locations in the afternoon Weems said he would watch porn to pass the time at Lyons Mill, Deer Park and Woodholme elementary schools. But he said he took precautions, such as leaning over in the driver’s seat and keeping his phone away from them.

Weems stated that if children spot a plane, he will open FlightAware on his phone and give it to them. They especially admired Southwest Airlines for its color scheme.

He claimed he paid special attention to the girl and denied sexually abusing her in the van and at the nursery. 12 years old now testified against him early in the trial.

During cross-examination, Deputy State’s Attorney Lisa Dever told Weems, “Let’s talk about your porn addiction.”

Weems testified that he did not use his work laptop to look at pornography.

When Dever asked Weems if he mostly watched porn on his cell phone while in a van with the kids, Weems replied, “Probably yes.”

“So your addiction was when you were around children?” Dever asked.

“No,” Weems replied.

Circuit Judge Michael J. Finifter will instruct the jury on the law Friday, after which both sides will make closing arguments.

Weems later acknowledged that he may have leaned over the girl’s shoulder and viewed the sexually explicit material. He also suggested that the children might have opened the videos on his phone without his knowledge.

“They could hide it,” Weems testified. “Children sometimes hide things.”

Weems said that after police seized his phone, he went to the dry cleaners, picked up his laptop from day care and went to work.

He said his wife was confused.

“We talked,” he testified. “But he was still upset.”

But the jury didn’t hear what happened opened just a few days later.

Shanteari Weems traveled from Baltimore County to Washington, D.C., on July 21, 2022, and met her husband at their hotel room, then called the Mandarin Oriental, and shot him twice.

Later pleaded guilty He was arraigned in D.C. Superior Court on charges of aggravated assault and carrying an unregistered handgun. prisoner four years in prison plus two years of supervised release. He will be released on December 17, 2025. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Towards the end of his statement, James Weems reiterated that he did not deny watching porn in the van.

However, he stated that in retrospect, this behavior was inappropriate.