A woman who shot her husband after discovering that he was molesting children in their care has been sentenced to four years in federal prison, sparking outrage among community members who are advocating that she be released.
“Just to think about being in that situation—the level of rage—what would you do? What would anybody do? I cannot begin to imagine,” Denita Wallace, Weems’ friend, told CBS News. “I’m not saying you should take the law in your own hands, but the person you trust most in this world has not only violated your trust, has destroyed your business and also violated children.”
Weems is a former correctional officer who was living in a Baltimore suburb when she opened and operated a child daycare center called Little Kidz Kastle. Her husband, James Weems is a former police officer for the Baltimore City Police Department.
While fighting tears, Weems told the judge who sentenced her that she thought her husband was her “protector” only to find out that he was sexually abusing children at the daycare.
It was last July when Weems was informed that her husband was sleeping with children at the daycare. She then drove to the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C., where he was working on private security detail. When she met him there, she shot him twice.
“I think she just reacted on emotion at that point,” Weems’ friend, Tarese Hadith, said.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe sentenced Weems Friday. She was sentenced to double the time prosecutors were requesting – they agree that the amount of time she was sentenced is fair since she pleaded guilty to the crime. At the time of the trial, they said her actions were “cruel and the deal too lenient.”
Following her sentencing, dozens of supporters showed up at the courthouse in disbelief she will remain behind bars for what some say is cruel and unusual punishment. Jolene Ivey, a Prince George’s County Council member and wife of Maryland Congressman Glenn Ivey, was one of those supporters.
“I really thought time served was more than enough, and I cannot believe this judge did not accept even the plea deal offered by the government,” Ivey said. “When does this happen? It’s really outrageous.”
Meanwhile, James Weems will remain behind bars until his trial scheduled for May. He has been accused of molesting children.
The allegations surfaced when family members saw their child watching pornography on a mobile device. “When I asked, the victim stated that her bus driver at daycare ‘Mr. James’ showed her where to find the pornography. The victim went on to tell her family that ‘Mr. James’ showed her pornography on his cell phone while they were on the daycare bus,” court documents say.
“There were 93 children who had contact with James Weems and were interviewed as part of the investigation,” according to CBS News.
