Politics on the Hudson

The son of Robert F. Kennedy is accused of kicking a maternity ward nurse and hurting another one at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco after trying to take his two-day old son out for some “fresh air.”

Douglas Kennedy, 44, of Chappaqua, is facing a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of physical harassment, violations, after he was told that he couldn’t take his newborn out of the maternity unit of the hospital.

His lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, said the charges are “absurd” and nothing more than an attempt to cash-in on the Kennedy name.

“This is a result only of the aggressive and grossly inappropriate behavior by two nurses,” Gottlieb told The Journal News today. “Whatever Douglas did came about only because the nurse was lunging to grab his child from his arms. What Douglas did was simply protect his baby.”

Kennedy plead not guilty at his arraignment earlier this week and is due back in Mount Kisco Village Court on April 5, according to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

The two nurses, Anna Margaret Lane and Cari Maleman Luciano, reported in their statements to Mount Kisco Police, that Kennedy was holding the swaddled infant in his arms and wanted to “get some fresh air for the baby.”

Kennedy, the second youngest of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s 11 children, is accused of disregarding a nurse’s orders to return the baby to the maternity ward on Jan 7. Upon being confronted at an elevator, Kennedy then reportedly twisted Lane’s left arm and kicked Luciano in the pelvic area before falling to the ground himself with the baby in his arm, according to depositions provided by the District Attorney’s Office.

But a report also says that Dr.Timothy Haydock, a longtime Kennedy family friend who works in the emergency room at Northern Westchester, encouraged Kennedy to leave and said he would accompany Kennedy downstairs.

“I witnessed the incident and I can state unequivocally that the nurses were the only aggressors,” Haydock said in a statement provided by Gottlieb. “To charge Mr. Kennedy with a crime is simply incomprehensible to me.”

Douglas and Molly Kennedy are “extraordinarily good, kind and caring parent,” he said.

A spokesman for the hospital, Mark Vincent, confirmed an incident occurred on Jan. 7, but would not comment “out of respect for all the parties involved.”

Attorneys for the two nurses could not be reached for comment.

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