Accuser Testifies in Priest Sex Abuse Case

Two years after being acquitted of attempted murder in the shooting of a Roman Catholic priest, Dontee Stokes is back in the same courthouse -- this time to face the former cleric accused of molesting him.

Maurice J. Blackwell, 58, was defrocked by the Vatican last year. He faces four counts of child sexual abuse and could be sentenced to up to 60 years in prison.

In three days of testimony that ended Tuesday, Stokes, 29, was the lead prosecution witness. Between 1989 and 1992, Stokes said, Blackwell’s avuncular pats on the back turned to inappropriate embraces and, finally, attempted sexual assaults on at least two occasions when he was 16.

“In disbelief” and “disgusted” by Blackwell’s advances, Stokes testified, he was unsure how to proceed against a man he had come to trust. “I didn’t want to get him into trouble and have him removed,” he said.

Stokes, who admitted to shooting Blackwell twice, served 11 months under house arrest on a weapons violation. The incident occurred at the same time the Boston Archdiocese and other Catholic dioceses across the nation were facing with allegations that church officials for decades had failed to adequately deal with priests accused of sexual abuse.

On Tuesday, Stokes’ mental competency was challenged by Kenneth W. Ravenell, Blackwell’s attorney. He said that the accusations against the former priest were not reliable and that Stokes was confused about his own sexual identity. Two psychiatrists described interview sessions in which Stokes recounted being abducted by aliens as a high school student and insisted that he had recurring “out-of-body experiences.”

Stokes told of seeing demons on his living room floor and “would hear static like a TV set,” said Dr. Stephen Seibert, who interviewed Stokes twice in 2002. A second psychiatrist, Dr. Neil Blumberg, said Stokes’ medical records were “consistent with someone with a grossly psychotic condition”; he said Stokes seemed unable to “discern reality from fantasy.”

Stokes was outside the courtroom Tuesday as Ravenell tried to undercut his claims that Blackwell often led his accuser away from church youth group and choir meetings to private sessions, where the priest would touch him inappropriately. A parade of former St. Edwards parishioners said Blackwell would not have broken protocol to meet with Stokes alone -- and added that they had never heard Stokes allege molestation by Blackwell.

“He didn’t mention any problems,” said Walter Jennifer, youth club leader.

In his testimony two years ago, Stokes admitted to being overcome with rage when Blackwell rebuffed him after he tried to get the priest to talk about the abuse accusations. After a final rebuke that left him feeling “outside my body,” Stokes testified in 2002, he opened fire with a silver-plated .357 magnum, wounding Blackwell in the left hand and hip.

Blackwell, who has hobbled to court each day using a metal walker, declined Tuesday to testify in his own defense. When called to testify in Stokes’ December 2002 trial, Blackwell invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Assistant State’s Atty. Jo Anne Stanton on Tuesday tried to introduce testimony from another man who said Blackwell abused him. But Circuit Judge Stuart R. Berger refused, saying such testimony could taint the jury’s deliberations.

But Stokes’ testimony remains the core of the case against Blackwell. He said that he talked to a counselor in 1992 about what he said was Blackwell’s inappropriate behavior, but even then could not openly discuss the alleged abuse.

Angry and seeking answers from the priest, Stokes said, he was traumatized and led to “wonder about my sexuality.” Although he hesitated about going to the police, Stokes said, he had no illusions about Blackwell.

“I have no question or debate about what he did,” Stokes said.