Child Endangerment Suspect Surrenders : Baby, Believed Abused, Allegedly Taken From Hospital by Father

A Huntington Beach man, charged with child endangerment after he allegedly took his infant son from protective custody at UC Irvine Medical Center July 21, surrendered to authorities Wednesday.

David X. Kennedy Sr., 30, surrendered to West Orange County Municipal Judge Marvin G. Weeks, who arraigned him on the felony child endangerment charge and several misdemeanor warrants.

The charge is based on an allegation that Kennedy took the 8-month-old boy out of the hospital while nurses were not watching, although the boy, believed to be a victim of child abuse, was in protective custody in a pediatric ward, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Koski.

“We’re basing the charge on a diagnosis that the child had a subdural hematoma (bleeding between the skull and the brain) and needed to stay under medical supervision and should not have been moved,” Koski said.

The baby was taken into protective custody at UCI Medical Center after his parents brought him there July 18. Upon admission, doctors discovered what they considered suspicious injuries, including bruises on much of his body, a potentially fatal subdural hematoma and evidence of broken arms and legs that were healing, Huntington Beach police said.

Weeks set bail at $10,000 Wednesday and ordered Kennedy placed into custody, although the defendant was expected to arrange bail immediately after his court appearance, Koski said.

The father faces a maximum punishment of six years in prison if he is found guilty.

Kennedy is suspected of fleeing with the boy to Denver, where his wife, Kimberlynn, 24, has relatives. On July 22, a relative of the boy’s mother took the child to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for admission after heeding warnings that the child needed medical supervision.

Relatives in Denver said Kennedy allegedly took the boy because of poor medical care at UCI Medical Center.

The boy was released from the Colorado hospital a week ago and referred to a children’s shelter in the Denver area.

After the Orange County Social Services Agency won custody of the boy, the child was returned to Orange County on Sunday and since has been at Orangewood Children’s Home, a shelter for abused or neglected children.

A preliminary hearing for the boy’s father has been set for Aug. 27.