PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) – A Maine couple accused of abusing their 9-year-old son in a supermarket will get the boy and his younger sister back, a judge ruled.

Lori and James Morrissey of Gorham, Maine, were charged with assaulting their son on Nov. 4. Witnesses and a store videotape showed Lori, 32, push her son to the floor and kick him in the chest or stomach, and James, 34, grab him by the hair and wrists and pull him from the store, according to police.

On Monday, the couple presented Portsmouth District Court Judge Sawako Gardner with documents from New Hampshire and Maine health and human services officials recommending that they be reunited with their children, who have been staying with grandparents. The Morrisseys told the judge they are receiving counseling.

“I’d like to have my children back so they can return to a normal life and go to school,” James Morrissey said.

“I think this whole thing has done damage,” Lori Morrissey said, her voice trembling.

At the prosecutor’s request, Gardner ordered the Morrisseys not to discuss the charges with their children.

The parents, who have pleaded not guilty, are free on $5,000 personal recognizance bail pending their trial, which is scheduled for March 27. The charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.

AP-ES-11-28-06 1327EST