A man is due to stand trial this week on charges that he sexually abused a 10-year-old girl at his wife’s preschool in Baltimore Countyaccusation made public after his wife shot him twice and then barricaded herself in a hotel room.

James Weems Jr. is scheduled to appear in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Monday for jury selection. He faces a total of 33 counts and are accused of victimizing four children at Lil Kidz Kastle Daycare Center in Owings Mills dating from 2020.

Weems, 59, of Towson, is set to stand trial only on the first 10 countswhich include sexual abuse of a minor, rape and perverted practices and refer to the girl.

Circuit Judge Michael J. Finifter will preside over the trial, which is scheduled to last a week.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger declined to comment ahead of the trial. Weems’ lead attorney, Thomas Pavlinic, said it was not his practice to discuss pending cases either.

The allegations came to light on July 3, 2022, after family members saw the girl looking at pornography on her aunt’s tablet, Baltimore police reported.

When her loved ones started asking questions, police say, the girl told them she found out where she could find the site from the kindergarten van driver: “Mr. James.” She reported that he showed her sexually explicit material on his cell phone.

Then a relative took the girl upstairs and started asking her more questions. Weems, she revealed, sexually abused her at daycare and in the van, police say.

“You’re not in trouble, you didn’t do anything wrong, but Mr. James did, because he shouldn’t be touching you and shouldn’t be showing you dirty movies,” the relative told the girl during that conversation, which been registered. “You shouldn’t know about that—you’re a child.”

The girl later told a forensic interviewer at the Baltimore County Child Advocacy Center that Weems was nice to her and gave her snacks.

She said she received a touch, police reported, in her “private area.”

Law enforcement officers continued their investigation.

On July 21, 2022, Weems’ wife, Shanteari, drove from Baltimore County to what was called the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, DC and shot him twice in his hotel room. He provided security at the annual National Urban League Conference.

She has since divorced him.

Shanteari Weems pleaded guilty in DC Superior Court to aggravated assault and carrying a handgun without a permit and was convict to four years in prison — plus two years of supervised release.

“I’m pretty broke,” she said The Baltimore Banner in 2023 during an interview at a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky. “I just snapped.”

Police filed charges against James Weems days after the shooting. Shanteari Weems is expected to testify against him at trial.

Her friend and business partner, Nicole Knox, said she was glad the trial was moving forward.

“These kids deserve justice,” Knox said. “And hopefully they finally get it.”

From 1983 to 1987, James Weems served in the US Marine Corps. He joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1996 and medically retired in 2005. Until 2008, he remained a contractor.

Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita and Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Dever are prosecuting the case.

If James Weems is convicted of rape, the Baltimore County District Attorney’s office has filed notice that it plans to seek a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.