Schuylkill man who shot his son wants to visit him

An Orwigsburg man charged with shooting and seriously wounding his 8-year-old son last month wants to visit the boy, but will have to go through custody court to seek permission, a Schuylkill County judge said Friday.

Nevin P. Ebener, 30, thought he had to seek modification of his bail conditions to see his son, but Judge Jacqueline L. Russell said there’s nothing in the bail documents that bars him from visiting the boy.

“I don’t see that that’s a condition of the bail order,” she said.

Russell noted that the bail conditions forbid Ebener from intimidating or seeking retaliation against the victim.

“There’s nothing here to modify,” she said.

Ebener’s lawyer, Sudhir R. Patel, then withdrew the request.

Patel said he had been told by borough police and the county Children & Youth Services Agency that Ebener was to have no contact with the boy. The child’s mother also does not want any contact.

Patel said he’s concerned Ebener may be unjustly accused of trying to intimidate the boy.

Ebener testified that he lives in Pottsville with his parents since being released on $75,000 percentage bail.

Russell said he’d need to seek visits through a different court office.

Prosecutors last month dropped felony charges of aggravated assault against Ebener.

He still faces charges of simple assault, endangering welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person, possession of a small amount of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia — all misdemeanors — in Schuylkill County court.

Police say Ebener at 12:20 p.m. on Jan. 2 shot his son in the arm and torso inside his apartment on the 200 block of East Market Street.

The shots broke the child’s arm and pelvis, and inflicted serious internal injuries.

Ebener took the boy to a Pottsville hospital, where he was then airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital — Cedar Crest with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Ebener told police he had taken his .45-caliber handgun from a kitchen cabinet and placed it on a countertop. The gun “just went off” when he went to pick it up off the counter, he told police, hitting the boy at close range.