RALEIGH, N.C. —  Parents who were charged with child abuse last August have been exonerated and reunited with their children.

Charbel Hamaty (search) was charged with sexually assaulting his newborn son, and Teresa Hamaty (search) was arrested for taking sexually explicit pictures.

The couple describe the ordeal as a "nightmare" that started over a roll of film that Charbel Hamaty dropped off at a north Raleigh Eckerd drugstore.

The photo that raised alarms shows a naked Kristoff, now 16 months old, getting a kiss from his father on the belly button, Teresa Hamaty said.

When the photos were shown to the police, the couple was arrested, and Kristoff was put in protective custody, while his half-sister, Victoria, was handed over to her birth father.

Teresa Hamaty was released on bond, but wasn't allowed contact with her children for months.

Charbel Hamaty spent six months in prison before the charges were dropped because of a report submitted by an expert saying there was no criminal intent in the photos.

The couple said they are happy to be reunited with their children and to leave their legal troubles behind them.