Child Was Removed From Hospital : Parents Win Custody; Police Dismayed

To the dismay of Huntington Beach police, who suspected child abuse, the parents of an infant who was snatched from a hospital and taken to Colorado have been given custody of the child.

The case involves David X. Kennedy Sr., 30, and his wife, Kimberlynn, 24, of Huntington Beach, who late Monday were granted custody of David Kennedy Jr. by Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald.

The father was charged with felony child endangerment after he allegedly took his son, who was 8 months old at the time, from UCI Medical Center last July 21.

The child had been brought in by his parents three days earlier. Upon his admission, doctors discovered suspicious injuries, including bruises on much of his body, potentially fatal bleeding between the skull and brain, and evidence of broken arms and legs that were healing. The boy was placed in protective custody.

Two days after they vanished, father and son turned up in the Denver area, where they have relatives. The family, claiming the boy had been given inadequate medical care and treatment at UCI Medical Center, took him to a Denver hospital.

Kennedy faces a Dec. 8 criminal trial on the child endangerment charge. But his attorney said that Judge McDonald’s decision this week establishes that the couple are responsible and worthy of taking “adequate care” of their son.

In addition, Kennedy attorney Jeff Lund, a public defender, said that McDonald’s civil ruling could influence Kennedy’s criminal case, and result in the felony charge being dropped. But the prosecutor doesn’t agree that McDonald’s actions mean that the Kennedys are now fit parents.

“The (child endangerment) charge is pending at this time, but if he (Lund) wants to make any legal motions, that’s his right. We will examine the transcripts of the custody case,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael C. Koski said Thursday.

Lund noted that the felony charge is based on the fact that the father allegedly removed the child from the hospital while the boy needed medical attention and not because the couple might have caused any of their son’s injuries.

Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Michael Relic said authorities were certain that the child had been abused, “but we couldn’t prove who did it.”

“I can’t second guess a judge’s decision,” Relic said Thursday, referring to McDonald’s action, “but our opinion is that we had a good case of child abuse.”