Douglas Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy, has been accused of assaulting maternity nurses after trying to take his son off the floor for a walk, USA Today is reporting. A lawyer for the group of nurses at a Westchester, New York hospital, who saw Kennedy take the child, said they weren’t sure if he had the required written permission to leave the ward. When they approached him, they claim he attacked and injured them.
The local NBC affiliate obtained a security video that shows the nurses trying to stop Kennedy from using an elevator. They then tried to block him from using a stairwell. However, the two sides disagree over what happened during the struggle. Kennedy said one of the nurses, Cari Maleman Luciano, tried taking the child from his arms. However, she said she was only trying to steady the violent shaking of the child.
Another nurse said Kennedy twisted her arm in the altercation, while another claimed he kicked her in the pelvis. The security footage shows a woman falling to the ground.
Security officers eventually stopped Kennedy from leaving the hospital. He was later charged with harassment and child endangerment, in connection with the January 7, 2012 altercation. Kennedy was later arraigned on February 23.
Kennedy, a reporter for Fox News, and his wife released a statement saying “It is sickening to think that our simple desire to take our son for fresh air has been warped into a charge of child endangerment.” The couple added they hope Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore concludes she made an error “in making a crime out of a father protecting his baby.”
Dr. Timonthy Haydock, who had accompanied the couple in the emergency room when the altercation occurred, released a statement saying the nurses were the only aggressors. “Then and now I felt that (Douglas) would not be putting his healthy child at risk or danger by taking him for a quick walk outside. To charge Mr. Kennedy with a crime is simply incomprehensible to me.”
Written by: Karen Benardello
