A man who left his 3-year-old autistic son in a Shanghai hospital and then told police he had gone missing has been charged with child abandonment, Minhang District prosecutors said Tuesday.

The boy was found standing alone and without shoes at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Minhang on June 8. After security guards spent 30 minutes trying to locate his parents, a doctor surnamed Qin found a note in the boy's pocket saying he was autistic and appealing for whoever found him to put him into care.

Qin contacted police who took the boy away and began an investigation.

When the boy's father, surnamed Jiang, later called police to say he had lost his son at the hospital, he was told the child was already in safe hands. Jiang went to the police station and admitted that he had put the note in the child's pocket, prosecutors said.

In court, Jiang said he and his wife had tried hard to care for the boy but that his autism had put a huge strain on their family.

The child needed 24-hour care, the father said, adding that he was fired from his job after repeatedly making mistakes as a result of his tiredness.

Jiang said also that he regularly quarreled with his wife over the situation and sometimes beat the child out of frustration.

Prosecutors heard that at dawn on June 8, Jiang beat the boy after the child's crying woke him up. His wife became angry and left home, prompting Jiang to take the child to the hospital and abandon him.

The father, however, soon regretted his actions and fearing his son might be abducted, called the police.

He is now facing up to five years in detention or prison.

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