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CNN Live At Daybreak

Baltimore Priest Shot by Abuse Victim

Aired May 15, 2002 - 05:04   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Baltimore police say Dontee Stokes went to get an apology from a priest for allegedly molesting him. Now that priest is in the hospital with gunshot wounds and Stokes is in jail.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve has the rest of the story.

(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.

MESERVE (on camera): Father Blackwell is in the Maryland shock trauma center in serious but stable condition. Dontee Stokes is in jail charged with attempted murder, first and second degree assault and handgun violations. His bail hearing will be held Wednesday morning.

Jean Meserve, CNN, Baltimore, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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