A United States executive and his wife have been charged with abandoning their 10-year-old disabled son, after leaving him at a hospital over the Christmas holiday.

The couple said they could no longer care for their son, Steven, who has cerebral palsy.

Richard Kelso, 62, is chief executive of a chemical company. His wife Dawn, 45, is a member of the Pennsylvania state advisory council on disability issues.

They turned themselves in to New Castle County police the day after abandoning Steven, said police spokesman Lieutenant Vincent Kowal.

Affluent

The couple, who live in the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Exton, Pennsylvania, were bailed on Tuesday to face trial in March in Delaware family court.

Mrs Kelso's four-year term on the disability council expires this week.

Their son is in state custody and has remained at Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, where they left him.

According to a hospital statement, the Kelsos arrived at the hospital with their son in a wheelchair and asked a receptionist to admit him.

Mrs Kelso told the receptionist that she did not want to talk to anyone and that she could no longer care for her son.

Shortly afterwards the couple fled, leaving behind the boy in his wheelchair with a bag of toys and medical supplies.

Medically needy

The statement said Steven was a long-time patient at the hospital.

"It's clearly not a matter of money," said Lieutenant Kowal, explaining that the couple left matching BMW cars outside the police station following their arrest.

The company Mr Kelso heads, PQ Corp, is one of the world's biggest producers of sodium silicates, and has a turnover of $500m per year.

It is reported that Steven was the couple's only child and required 24-hour care and the assistance of a respirator.

"He is what we classify as a medically needy child," said Trish Hearn, a spokeswoman for the Delaware state Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families.