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Henry Amador-Batten, 53, his husband Joel and their five-year-old son were flying home to North Carolina after visiting Puerto Rico when an attendant on the United Airlines flight made the allegation.

Speaking of the incident on their Facebook group for gay dads, DADsquared, Joel said his husband was made to "feel like a criminal" in front of other passengers as they exited the plane.

He said: "My husband was detained after disembarking a United flight to RDU because a member of the flight crew made an accusation that my husband's hand/arm laying across my son's sleeping lap was too close to the 'child's genitals'."

(Image: GETTY STOCK IMAGE • FACEBOOK/DADSQUARED) (Image: FACEBOOK/DADSQUARED)

Henry was then questioned by a crew member who accused him of laying his arm across his sleeping son's lap, Joel said.

And then he was seen "noticeably upset" at United and yelled sarcastically at the flight crew saying: "Thank you for this!", according to a Raleigh-Durham International Airport police report.

The couple since announced they would "not keep quiet" and would continue to speak out about the issue and have asked people to share their story on Facebook with the hashtag #DividedByUnited.

Joel added: "This is not something that anyone should have to worry about happening to them on a flight just because someone might not like the looks of them."

(Image: FACEBOOK/DADSQUARED)

Since the story went public – getting over 400 likes and 300 shares – United Airlines have issued an apology for the "misunderstanding" to the couple.

In the statement to CNN, United Airlines said: "In this instance, the crew believed it would be inappropriate to ask authorities to meet the plane and interview the customer.

"After speaking with the customer, authorities determined that no further action was necessary.

"Our customers should always be treated with the utmost respect and we have followed up with our customer to apologise for the misunderstanding."

Meanwhile, United Airlines has been embroiled in other controversies this year.

In April, a passenger was booted off an overbooked flight – where the video went viral.

And another flyer was apparently stung by a scorpion during his flight back home to Canada.