Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Baltimore Priest in Stable Condition Following Shooting

Aired May 15, 2002 - 11:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The man charged with shooting a priest who allegedly molested him, Dontee Stokes, is due in court in Baltimore today and police say that stokes confessed to the crime. But his family says that he simply wanted an apology from the priest.

Our Jeanne Meserve is standing by live in Baltimore. She joins us now with the very latest -- hello, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.

The latest chapter in the saga will play out at approximately 2:00 Eastern, when Dontee Stokes will have a bail hearing in the courthouse behind me. He is the young man who has confessed to police that he shot a Catholic priest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Revenge, the oldest of motives, apparently brought 26-year-old Dontee Stokes to this Baltimore neighborhood Monday night. Police say he has confessed to shooting Father Maurice Blackwell, 56, several times with a .357 Smith and Wesson.

RAGINA AVERELLA, BALTIMORE POLICE: Mr. Stokes has alleged that he was the victim of a sexual assault several years ago involving Mr. Blackwell.

MESERVE: Dontee Stokes first made his allegations against Father Blackwell in 1993, when Blackwell was pastor of St. Edward's Church in West Baltimore. The priest was suspended and put in mental health treatment. But when police and church investigators failed to substantiate Stokes' charges, Blackwell was reinstated, despite the protests of an independent review board.

TAMARA STOKES, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: The nuns knew about it, the priests knew about it. They did not address me. The archdiocese did not address me. The only person that addressed me was the police and nothing was done.

MESERVE: Only in 1998, when Blackwell confessed to having had a sexual relationship with a minor in the '70s, was he suspended. Now, he lives wounded in a Baltimore hospital.

CARDINAL WILLIAM KEELER, ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE: I am appalled that another act of violence has occurred in the city of Baltimore.

MESERVE: But did Keeler himself make a mistake when he, as then archbishop, reinstated Blackwell in 1993?

RAYMOND KEMPISTY, ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE: It's very difficult to make an assessment of that in hindsight. Of course, last night's event casts a new light on 1993.

MESERVE: Cardinal Keeler met today with his priests to discuss the broad issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. They prayed for victims and for Father Blackwell's recovery. But what about Dontee Stokes, who asked the church to address his complaints nine years ago? Nine years before, police say, he picked up a gun and used it?

KEELER: We must pray. We must repent. We must make it very clear that we cannot tolerate any kind of behavior that would cause this kind of damage to a young person that would be with that person through life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Father Maurice Blackwell remains in serious but stable condition, with one wound to his left hand and two to his left torso near his hip. Stokes, by the way, will not be appearing in this courtroom today. He'll remain at the jail where he has been held. He will participate in this proceeding via a video hookup -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: All right, very good. Jeanne Meserve, reporting live for us from Baltimore this morning -- Daryn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com