Lack of Retrial for Ex-Priest Decried

Baltimore, Maryland --

A former altar boy who in 2002 shot a Catholic priest he said had molested him years earlier told reporters yesterday that he is disappointed prosecutors in Baltimore have decided not to pursue sexual abuse charges.

The state's attorney's office announced Saturday that it would not retry the defrocked priest, Maurice J. Blackwell, 58. Blackwell was convicted in February of three counts of abusing the former altar boy, Dontee Stokes, but a judge threw out the convictions two months later, saying prosecution witnesses should not have testified about other alleged victims.

Yesterday, Stokes, now 29, rejected the reasons prosecutors offered for not retrying Blackwell as "poor excuses," saying he believed the former cleric was spared a second trial because of political ties.

"It sends a message to all victims of sexual abuse that there's really no safe haven in the system," said Stokes, speaking to reporters at the office of lawyer Warren Brown, who defended him against charges connected to the shooting.

Brown said he was "a little disgusted" with the reasons prosecutors offered for their decision -- among them that, under sentencing guidelines, Blackwell might have avoided prison even if convicted at a new trial.

Read the article at washingtonpost.com Dated July 7, 2005

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