Posted on 02/24/2012 8:11:38 PM PST by Hunton Peck
The son of Robert F. Kennedy has been charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly clashing with two nurses who tried to stop him from taking his 2-day-old baby boy from a Westchester maternity unit, NBC New York has learned.
According to a Mount Kisco, N.Y. police report obtained by NBC New York, Douglas Kennedy, 44, took his baby from the newborn unit of Northern Westchester Hospital on Jan. 7, against the instructions of hospital staff who told him the infant needed to stay there. The arrest was on misdemeanor charges.
Kennedy and his wife, Molly, disputed the accusations in a statement to NBC New York, saying "these allegations are absurd."
The nurse in charge of the unit, Anna Margaret Lane, said in a deposition that Kennedy wanted to take the child "to get fresh air" that evening. As he tried to leave, he was accompanied by a doctor from the hospital's emergency room, identified in court papers as "Dr. Haydock," later determined to be Dr. Timothy Haydock, a longtime family friend.
While the nursing staff sought to get Kennedy to return the baby to his bassinet, Haydock reportedly encouraged Kennedy to walk with the baby by telling nurses that he was with him, according to Lane's deposition.
Kennedy ignored the pleas of the nursing staff and carried the newborn -- identified in court papers as "B.K." -- to the elevator, police said. As the nursing staff tried to calm him and dissuade him from leaving the hospital, Kennedy turned and walked toward a stairwell leading to the outside of the hospital.
Lane blocked the doorway, "placing both hands on the doorknob" to prevent Kennedy from leaving, police said. Kennedy grabbed the nurse by her left wrist and twisted it to that he could pass into the stairwell, police said.
The baby's head "began to move from side to side, and in an attempt to stabilize the baby's head, nurse Cari Maleman Luciano reached toward the infant's head," police said.
"Instinctively as a nurse, I raised both my arms toward the neck of the baby to steady the violent shaking of the baby's head and neck," Luciano told investigators in a deposition.
While holding the child in his right arm, Kennedy kicked Luciano in the pelvis with his right foot, knocking her backward onto the floor, police said.
As he did this, Kennedy fell onto the floor with the baby in his arms. Kennedy then got up and ran "down the stairs with the infant until he was stopped by security and escorted back to the infant's room," the police report said.
The police report did not say whether the infant was harmed in the altercation.
The statement to NBC New York from Kennedy and his wife said there was no crime committed.
"The nurse had no right to attempt to grab our child out of his father's arms and I, Douglas, was shocked and appalled when she did so," the statement said.
Haydock said in a statement to NBC New York that Kennedy, whom he has known for more than 40 years, was not putting his healthy baby at risk by seeking to take him for a walk outside.
"I witnessed the incident and I can state unequivocally that the nurses were the only aggressors," he said. "To charge Mr. Kennedy with a crime is simply incomprehensible to me."
Kennedy is the 10th child of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy. He and Molly have four children.
A Brown University graduate, Kennedy started his journalism career with The New York Post and most recently worked as a general assignment reporter and bi-monthly news program host for Fox News.
Sorry, but the “rules of the hospital” don’t override my liberty and civil rights. They’re not my legal guardian, and they’re certainly not the legal guardian of my children, so unless I see a court order saying I can’t leave, they can KMA, and if they try to stop me from leaving, I’ll sue their behinds off.
Dr. Haydock in the story is a family friend of the Kennedy’s. I’m not sure his medical opinion is unbiased, or even familiar with the facts of the case.
“I assure the naysayers that newborn kids do survive exposure to even sub zero temps just like we do for the moments between hospital and car.”
Of course they do. What do these ninnies think “baby fat” is for? Not to mention, the smaller the person, the less succeptible you are to cold temperatures in the first place. The dad was more prone to getting frostbite or hypothermia than the baby.
Not in the slightest.
That's all very true. It may not be wise, but it is true.
If that’s what they thought, which is ludicrous since the mother and the physician were present during the incident, then they should have called the police and let them handle it. Since when did nurses get the authority to restrict the movement of free persons in this country with physical force? I thought that was called false arrest, false imprisonment, or kidnapping.
I stand behind the Kennedy involved and support him. I too have dealt with aggressive nurses. Kennedy did nothing wrong.
But while that baby is in the hospital...what happens to that baby is the hospital’s responsibility. This story is strange.
Were you there?
With that double negative, you are absolutely correct, sir.
No, but that doesn’t stop me from passing judgement.
“It may not be wise, but it is true.”
That’s the beauty and danger of liberty. We’re free to be as wise or foolish as we please, within certain necessary boundaries. I for one, would rather live in a nation of free fools than one of wise slaves.
I watched the video...Two nurses see a man walking out of the maternity ward with a baby. Don’t you think it was appropriate for them to stop him? We don’t know if they knew, at that time, who he was. then HE KICKED HER. I’m sorry, but in no world I live in is that acceptable. I can’t believe people are sticking up for him.
If this were a situation where a father came and was not authorized to take the baby, and they let him go..the hospital would be liable. All he had to do was go and explain and do it the correct way. Again, in our crazy world of baby stealers and other such crazies, the hospital has a responsibility to not allow this. SOrry. When you check out of the hospital you get to take your baby outside. When you are inside, it’s their rules.
Ah...passing judgement without knowing the facts. A Freeper specialty! And I include myself in that sentence!
I don’t see in the story that the mother was present in the nursery when he took the baby. When he goes into the elevator I see only 2 nurses. No doctor or wife is with him.
A few years ago, a woman wearing scrubs walked into a Salt Lake City, Utah, hospital, took a baby from a bassinet, and simply walked out of the hospital with the baby. Thankfully the woman was a little bit mentally ill, and was quickly found carrying the baby in a near by supermarket.
I know that when I have gone to visit my daughters after having their babies, getting in and out of the maternity department was like breaking into and out of Ft Knox.
As for this story....Well...There just isn't enough information. I would think that if they had chosen this hospital, then both Kennedys ( mom and dad) would have know well beforehand what the procedures would be for protecting their infant from kidnapping. Taking an infant out for stroll outside wouldn't be one of their safety precautions.
Ann Margaret Lane and Cari Maleman Luciano sound like fairly American names to me.
That hospital is in my old home town. I actually worked there after school. While the demographics have changed in the past 40 years, at the time it was 99% white. Last I heard most of the nurses were local, not imported from the 3rd World. The area around there is relatively prosperous, basically upscale NYC suburbs, so I don’t think they have a problem just trying to fill beds with paying patients. There is more to this story.
It doesn’t make sense that a father would take his 2 year child out of the nursery in January without his being prepared, i.e., properly bundled, to go outside. And where was the mother? Was he leaving her in the hospital, or was she already home? Today you see mother/child being released in 2 days, but released together unless there is a problem. Maybe the child had some minor condition, so was being held an extra day or two rather than released with a condition that would require his immediate return.
I did. My son was properly bundeled in a warm blanket and I went next door to my neighbors to show them my son.
I did. My son was properly bundeled in a warm blanket and I went next door to my neighbors to show them my son.
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