Charges filed against Maryland delegate by his son are dismissed

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The Cecil County Circuit Court building in Elkton. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.

Assault charges filed against a Cecil County delegate by his adult son have been dismissed.

Del. Kevin B. Hornberger faced a second-degree assault charge filed in April by his adult son, Adam Hornberger. The charges were filed through a Cecil County District Court commissioner and later appealed to the Circuit Court of Cecil County.

The delegate, in a statement Friday, said the matter has been “fully and finally resolved … and as I’ve stated since its inception, I did nothing wrong.”

Hornberger described the incident as “an unfortunate turn of events,” adding that his son “received some misguided counsel on how to try and resolve it.”

Adam Hornberger is the son of the Republican delegate and his ex-wife, Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger (R).

The charge stemmed from an alleged altercation at the home of the delegate’s parents on April 16. The son also lives at that home in North East.

On the day in question, the delegate said he went to his parents’ home to help with “household chores in and around the garage area.”

In a statement in April, the delegate said he struck up a discussion with his son about taking “proactive steps to better his life.”

He said in his April statement that his son became “agitated” and later “physically violent.” The delegate called the police, and the son allegedly left the home.

The son later went to a district court commissioner in Elkton and filed misdemeanor assault charges. He also sought a protective order, which was denied.

In a handwritten application for charges to a Cecil County District Court commissioner, Adam Hornberger said his father “put his hand on me and shoved me to the ground resulting in a cut to my palm and a bruise/scrape on my wrist. I have pictures of the injury.”

The application provides few details of what led up to the incident.

The Cecil County Sheriff’s Office confirmed they were called to the home for the altercation and later served a summons on the delegate for the misdemeanor assault charge.

The delegate, in his statement Friday, said he hopes to put the matter behind him.

“We can all work together now to heal and resolve our differences,” the delegate wrote in the statement. “I love my son very much. We all hope that this unfortunate chapter is behind us and our family’s privacy will be respected.”

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