A couple returned their adopted son to social services nine years after they took him into their family.
The parents said the child had started to become aggressive and wouldn't accept help – so they took took him to child services offices and dumped him there.
Now Cleveland and Lisa Cox, who adopted the boy when he was three months old, face a misdemeanor charge of recklessly abandoning the boy.
Ohio's Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said this as an exceptional case.
He said: "When you are the parent and you recklessly abandon a child or children, there are criminal consequences. These children don't have a return-to-sender stamp emblazoned on their forehead."
Adolf Olivas, an attorney appointed by the court to protect the child's legal interests, told local news reporters that the parents said the boy has aggressive behaviour and would not agree to get help.
"The child is hurt and confused and doesn't understand what is happening, said Mr Olivas.
"If your nine-year-old needs help, you get him help. It is not a question of a nine-year-old wanting it or not."
The Coxes could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted of the first-degree misdemeanor.
"These are the only parents he has ever known," said Mr Gmoser. "What do you think happens at night when he goes to sleep and doesn't have his brothers around or someone to talk to he has known for nine years?"