A Media couple were held for trial for ‘terrible’ abuse of their grandchildren

A Media couple were held for court on criminal charges after prosecutors said they physically abused their two grandchildren, slapping, pushing and, in one instance, choking one of the boys, who are 11 and 12.

Carl Haner IV, 66, will face a Delaware County judge on aggravated assault, strangulation, simple assault and related offenses for the abuse. Rhea Kelsall, 65, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child for failing to protect one of the boys from the most serious abuse.

Kelsall is the founder of Gratitude for Grandparents, a nonprofit that supports couples who become legal guardians of and caretakers for their grandchildren.

More serious charges against Kelsall, including simple assault and witness intimidation, were dismissed by Magisterial District Court Judge Andrew Goldberg for what he called a lack of evidence presented by prosecutors.

“Not for a moment do I believe you were doing anything other than bullying these kids,” Goldberg said. “Just because I’m dismissing these charges, does not, in any way, represent me condoning your actions. I think they were terrible.”

The boys testified at the hearing that they had lived with Haner and Kelsall for most of their lives. Both described a pattern of repeated corporal punishment, though the younger victim was the recipient of the most severe attacks by Haner.

“In public, they both acted nice and seemed like they were nice people,” the 11-year-old said. “But when we were at home, they would always start acting up again.”

He described an incident from earlier this year in which Haner took offense to something he said and began to slap him, hard, on his head. Eventually, Haner dragged the boy upstairs, where he slammed his head into a wall hard enough to leave a dent in the drywall, he testified. Haner then grabbed the boy by his neck, the boy said, tightly enough that he had trouble breathing.

Kelsall would sometimes join in the abuse, the boy said, which he understood to be a result of him “doing something wrong.” On one occasion, she deliberately tripped him while yelling at him at a soccer field, and, in another instance, got so angry at him that she kicked him out of her car about a block away from their home, according to the boy’s testimony.

She later returned to collect the boy, but Assistant District Attorney Bryan Barth said her intent was clear.

“That goes beyond corporal punishment, beyond what anyone needs to do,” Barth said. “She was just showing him she can do whatever she wants.”

The older victim said Kelsall would also occasionally slap him, and had hit him with a belt on his back side on a few occasions. The couple’s attorney, Christopher Boggs, said Kelsall’s actions against the 12-year-old didn’t rise to the level of a crime.

“I don’t know that I necessarily agree with that parenting style,” Boggs said, “but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allows for that behavior.”

Haner and Kelsall are to be arraigned in county court on Sept. 20.