When people talk of the supposed curse that hangs over the Kennedy family, the deaths are mentioned most frequently. From the assassinations of JFK and RFK to JFK Jr’s plane crash to Michael Kennedy’s bizarre ski football fatality, the dynasty has weathered its share of mortalities, but underneath that tragic exterior, there have also been a slew of utterly strange non-life threatening scandals that have made headlines over the years. Now Douglas Kennedy has added to that list.
The son of RFK has been charged with misdemeanor harassment and endangering his own baby over an argument that ensued between the forty-four year old and two nurses at New York’s Northern Westchester Hospital. Kennedy’s wife had just given birth to the couple’s fourth child when Douglas decided to take the newborn outside for a stroll. He was walking to the exit with a doctor and family friend named Timothy Haydock when two nurses reportedly told the pair to keep the child inside. An irritated Kennedy reportedly ignored those orders, leading to a confrontation in which a nurse was kicked.
According to Fox News, Kennedy later called the nurses’ allegations “absurd”, but that didn’t stop the court system from formally arraigning him on Thursday. Why exactly he was so hellbent on taking his newborn outside isn’t known, but one would imagine he’d address those charges in the court as the case progresses.
This scandal might not have the shock value of Michael Kennedy’s affair with the fourteen year old babysitter or Michael Skakel’s murder conviction, but you still have to admit, it’s pretty damn weird. Regardless of what actually happened, I can’t imagine there’s many people in the world that have been charged with kicking a nurse in an effort to take their child for a walk.
