Baltimore prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Rev. Maurice J. Blackwell after a renewed allegation that the clergyman sexually molested Dontee Stokes, the man accused of shooting him last month.

The decision by the city state's attorney's office to investigate the allegation comes on the heels of a public tirade this week by Stokes' attorney, Warren A. Brown, who yelled insults at prosecutors through a bullhorn as he stood in front of the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse.

Brown had accused the prosecutors of "whitewashing" the facts in the case and not investigating Blackwell. He made a formal allegation of the abuse after officials in the state's attorney's office told him he had to go through proper channels in order for the incident to be investigated.

Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office, said yesterday that her office referred the case to police detectives, who will interview Stokes and investigate his claims, then prepare an incident report.

Prosecutors will then review the report and decide whether to charge Blackwell with a crime.

Stokes claims the assaults took place over a three-year period when he was a teen-ager. He told police he shot Blackwell three times May 13 in front of the priest's Reservoir Hill home because Blackwell refused to apologize for the alleged abuse.

Blackwell, 56, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Stokes, 27, who faces nine criminal counts in the shooting, is under home detention.

Brown, who made the complaint against Blackwell through the state's attorney's sex crimes unit, said the alleged abuse was more serious than Stokes had reported in 1993. At the time, Blackwell was investigated but not charged with a crime.

Stokes and Brown plan to meet with a detective Monday to explain that the alleged abuse went far beyond touching, and that they believe it was a felony offense, Brown said.

That is relevant because there is no statute of limitations for a felony, meaning that if prosecutors believe Stokes' claims, they would not be barred from charging Blackwell because of time constraints.

Brown also said he would tell detectives Monday that he was recently contacted by a man who said he was molested by Blackwell when he was 10. The man told Brown he and the priest used to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana together.

When asked why Stokes didn't come forward earlier to say he was severely abused, Brown responded: "The same reason some people don't give it up at all. It's embarrassing."

In 1993, Stokes told prosecutors and detectives that Blackwell had touched him inappropriately, and denied any other abuse.

Detectives conducted about a dozen interviews at the time but failed to locate other alleged victims or witnesses, and closed the investigation after about six weeks.

That case boiled down to a standoff between the word of a popular West Baltimore clergyman and that of a teen-ager.

The state's attorney's office is also investigating Blackwell in reference to another person who came forward after the shooting and said the priest sexually abused him.