The father of a Manassas toddler who died after she was left in a hot van for more than seven hours last week was charged yesterday with involuntary manslaughter and child neglect in a case that has vexed prosecutors.

Kevin C. Kelly, 46, turned himself in yesterday morning after indictments were unsealed in Prince William County Circuit Court. More than 50 members of his church attended his brief hearing in a show of support. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of both charges.

Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said there is no evidence that Kelly -- the father of 13 children -- intentionally left his 19-month-old daughter, Frances, to die. But he said Kelly's "gross negligence" resulted in the toddler's death in a van that authorities believe reached more than 140 degrees.

Ebert said he "agonized" over whether to file charges and further damage a deeply religious family that already has suffered.

"You've got to have sympathy for anyone who loses their child," Ebert said. "But this case is bigger than Mr. Kelly. Hopefully other people will get the message that gross negligence -- like losing track of your young child for several hours -- is something that can be prosecuted. A child of that age has a lot of needs, and a parent is responsible to provide for those needs."

Kelly, an engineer, was at home with 12 of his children while his wife, Mary, was in Ireland with the family's oldest daughter, who is 19. Family friends and fellow parishioners at All Saints Catholic Church said Mary Kelly usually cared for the children while her husband was at work.

Kelly's lawyer, Carroll A. Weimer Jr., said the family is disappointed by the charges and does not believe Frances's death is a crime.

"The family has suffered a great loss, and they're continuing to suffer," Weimer said. "This is a tragic, tragic accident. We expect Kevin to be found not guilty of the charges."

Kelly has been released on his own recognizance. His trial is scheduled to start Nov. 18.

According to the National Safe Kids Coalition, of the 33 cases involving the deaths of children in hot vehicles last year, parents were charged with a crime in seven of the deaths. Heather Paul, the coalition's executive director, said the numbers show a fine line between culpability and accident.

"It's open to interpretation, and that's what prosecutors, judges and juries are for," Paul said.

Sources close to the investigation said Kelly arrived at his Zimbro Avenue home about noon with six of his children in the van -- three teenagers and three under 5. One of the teenagers removed the family's 3-year-old daughter from a car seat directly adjacent to Frances's seat and then locked the van, the sources said. Prosecutors have not ruled out charges against one of the teenagers, they said.

Ebert said prosecutors are considering several theories. "The whole situation is still being investigated," he said.

After arriving home and asking the older children to look after the younger ones, Kelly went about his day, taking care of chores around the house and running errands. At no point did Kelly ask about his youngest daughter, police and prosecutors said.

Frances was found more than seven hours later, when neighbors out for a walk noticed her in her car seat and screamed for help.

Police records show that Kelly had previously lost track of his children, including one occasion about six weeks before Frances's death. About 7:45 p.m. on April 14, a Manassas officer noticed Frances -- then about 18 months old -- running in the middle of Zimbro Avenue unsupervised, police said. Sgt. Marc J. Woolverton, a police spokesman, said yesterday that the officer picked up the toddler and brought her home.

"He found Frances walking in the road, took her into the home, counseled the parents and cleared the scene," Woolverton said. "We had nothing at that point to show that there was any other problem at that time."

But Prince William County police had had contact with the family a few months earlier, when Kelly left his then-3-year-old son, Martin, at a video store Feb. 3, a police incident report says. Police tracked down the family -- noting in a report that Kelly was upset and apologetic but had no idea that his son was missing for two hours -- and referred the case to the county's Department of Social Services.

County officials said they cannot comment on the referral, but sources said social workers did not follow up and never made contact with the family. Manassas' Department of Social Services also was not contacted, so there was no intervention after either of the incidents.

But friends said that the Kellys are a stable family with enormous religious faith, saying that Kelly would never do something that he thought would hurt his family.

"This isn't a matter of criminality," said Lawrence Boyle, who goes to church with the Kellys. "This is a matter of a man doing his dad and husband things. He wasn't off the job, it was just a terrible accident."