Maurice Blackwell, the former priest of St. Edward Catholic Church in West Baltimore, was convicted Thursday of molesting a parish choirboy, who years later shot him.
The defrocked priest, who was found guilty of three counts of sexual child abuse that occurred in the early 1990s, could face up to 45 years in prison when he is sentenced April 15 by Baltimore Circuit Judge Stuart Berger. Blackwell, 58, was acquitted of one count of abuse for incidents that allegedly occurred in 1989.
The weeklong trial attracted national attention because his accuser, Dontee Stokes, shot him in May 2002 at the height of the priest abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Stokes, now 29, was acquitted of attempted murder but convicted of weapons violations later that year, serving home detention.
Blackwell, who did not testify, was defrocked in October by Pope John Paul II and has not been a pastor since 1998, when he admitted to a sexual relationship with another teenage boy in the 1970s.
After the verdict, Blackwell, who uses a cane because of the shooting, made no comments as he quickly hobbled out to a waiting vehicle.
Stokes, who works as a barber and has two daughters, said his life has been on hold waiting for Blackwell's trial.
"I feel vindicated, to a certain extent," he said as he stood outside the courthouse among family members and supporters, including Warren Brown, the defense attorney from his attempted murder trial. "I'm thankful there's going to be some closure. This is over."
Blackwell's attorney, Kenneth Ravenell, said he would request a new trial within 10 days.
Stokes' molestation claims first surfaced when he was 17 in 1993. Then, he told a counselor that Blackwell had been inappropriately touching him for years. After a police investigation, prosecutors declined to press charges, saying there wasn't enough evidence.
Stokes' dormant accusations against Blackwell took new urgency on May 13, 2002, when Stokes drove to Blackwell's Reservoir Hill home, asked for an apology and, when he didn't receive one, pulled out an illegally purchased .357 Magnum revolver and shot him three times.
Shortly before Stokes was to stand trial, he disclosed for the first time allegations of oral sex and attempted rape, acts that he said occurred one evening in the church rectory when he was 16. After he was convicted on lesser charges, he served 18 months of home detention.
Months later, Blackwell was charged with child sexual abuse.
In his emotional testimony during Blackwell's trial, Stokes recounted in explicit detail molestation by the former priest.
At one point Stokes rose from his chair on the witness stand and addressed Blackwell directly. He recalled that the priest had just gotten out of the shower and had taken the teenager's hands and used them to touch his bare chest. "Remember?"
Blackwell has made only one public statement proclaiming his innocence. He did not testify at Stokes' trial.
"I still believe that God will see me through this ordeal even though the church has forsaken me," Blackwell said at a news conference on the eve of his trial.