Baltimore authorities have wrapped up a five-month investigation into Roman Catholic priest Maurice J. Blackwell, and are asking for help from the Carroll County state's attorney's office in assessing -- and possibly prosecuting -- allegations that the priest sexually abused a teen-ager more than a decade ago.

The unusual step by Baltimore prosecutors in asking for outside help is the latest twist in a case that has attracted national attention since May, after Dontee D. Stokes was accused of shooting Blackwell three times on a Baltimore street. Stokes said he fired the bullets as retaliation because Blackwell would not apologize for molesting him more than a decade ago.

Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city state's attorney's office, said the case is being sent to Carroll County for review to avoid any conflict-of-interest issues with Stokes, who is being prosecuted in Baltimore on attempted murder charges in Blackwell's shooting.

Prosecutors also chose Carroll County because of that jurisdiction's experience with handling sensitive sex crime investigations. Officials in that county will offer city prosecutors advice on how to pursue the Blackwell matter, Burns said.

"Carroll County has recently investigated similar allegations and has an experienced cadre of investigators and prosecutors for these types of cases," Burns said.

Chief among those to review the case will be Carroll County Deputy State's Attorney Tracy A. Gilmore, who heads a sex crimes unit of three prosecutors.

Gilmore, who recently helped convict Brian M. Cox, a Westminster priest, of decades-old sex abuse, said she has no idea how long it will take her to investigate Blackwell.

She said cases such as that involving Blackwell can be difficult because of the time lapse.

"Any evidence of a crime that may have been left is no longer there," Gilmore said. "The likelihood of finding evidence is none. As for witnesses, memories can become faint, or we may not be able to locate witnesses."

It is possible that the city state's attorney's office might ask Gilmore to prosecute the Blackwell case in Baltimore if the priest is indicted, Burns said.

Althea Handy, head of the Baltimore state's attorney's sex crimes unit, would have been a likely choice to prosecute the case if a Baltimore prosecutor was picked to do the job. But Handy will be leaving the office shortly because she had been appointed a Baltimore Circuit Court judge.

Stokes claims that he shot Blackwell because the former priest sexually assaulted him as a child.

Blackwell's lawyer, Kenneth W. Ravenell, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Law enforcement officials say that prosecutors have spent the past few months looking into allegations that Blackwell molested four men when they were teen-agers. But the only case that had enough evidence to proceed is that of Stokes, 26, who has said he was raped by Blackwell, a law enforcement source said.

Stokes' case goes back to 1993, when he told police that Blackwell had been "touching" him for three years. But prosecutors, while making it clear that they believed Stokes, never charged Blackwell because detectives were unable to come up with any witnesses or other evidence to bolster the teen-ager's story.

It wasn't until after Stokes was accused of shooting Blackwell on May 13 that he alleged to authorities that he had been raped.

Stokes -- who has garnered national media attention because of the shooting and was featured in a 60 Minutes II segment last month -- told police he shot Blackwell, 56, three times in the hand and hip as he stood in front of his Reservoir Hill rowhouse.

He also told police the incident occurred when he demanded and failed to get an apology from the priest, who had been his mentor at St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in West Baltimore.

Stokes is charged with nine criminal counts, including attempted murder, and is being held under house arrest until his trial Dec. 10.

His lawyer, Warren A. Brown, said he is encouraged that Baltimore prosecutors are moving Blackwell's case along.

"I don't know why they waited so long," Brown said.

Brown said he needs to know soon whether Blackwell will be indicted because he wants to call the priest to testify at Stokes' trial. Blackwell can refuse to testify if he is indicted on charges of molesting Stokes.

The attorney said he hopes that Blackwell is indicted because it could sway a jury in favor of Stokes at trial.

"How much sympathy do people have for an indicted child molester?" he said.