Couple asks to see boy they are barred from visiting

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A couple accused of abandoning their severely disabled son in a hospital emergency room are seeking<br>permission to visit him.<br><br>Richard and Dawn Kelso, who are barred from

Thursday, January 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A couple accused of abandoning their severely disabled son in a hospital emergency room are seeking
permission to visit him.

Richard and Dawn Kelso, who are barred from contacting their son as a condition of their bail, filed a 14-page petition in Delaware
Family Court, saying they never intended to abandon their 10-year-old son, Steven Kelso, who has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, and breathes and eats through tubes.

"They merely needed a respite from the exhausting round-the-clock care which they had been providing," according to the petition made public Thursday and written by Wilmington lawyer Linda Shopland.

Police charged the Kelsos of Exton, Pa., with abandonment of a child and conspiracy after they were accused of leaving their boy in the emergency room of the A.I. du Pont Hospital for Children on Dec. 26 with a note saying they could no longer care for him.

Steven, who was born three months premature and was hospitalized for the first 18 months of his life, can't walk or talk, suffers
from frequent seizures and needs constant medical attention. He has remained in the hospital after a Family Court commissioner gave the state of Delaware temporary custody.

Todd Hallidy, a spokesman for the Delaware attorney general's office, said he expects Pennsylvania to petition for custody of the
child at a hearing Friday. And Delaware officials say they won't object to that change in custody.