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Ethan Couch, the Affluenza Teen. Photo courtesy of ABC News.
Summary: The Affluenza Teen allegedly has fled the country, thus violating his parole.
The male ginger manifestation of Veruca Salt may have fled the country.
Ethan Couch made headlines years ago as the “Affluenza Teen” when his lawyers successfully argued his wealthy upbringing was an excuse for his drunk driving, which killed four people. His attorneys claimed his parents were to blame for their son’s actions because they raised him to be spoiled. The judge agreed with the defense that Couch had never been taught responsibility for his actions, and the decision met with national scorn that the rich never have to pay for their crimes.
Couch was sentenced as a juvenile in 2013 by Judge Jean Boyd of Tarrant County, Texas. He was given 10 years of probation and sentenced to therapy; and his father, apparently learning nothing, offered to pay $450,000 a year for Couch’s therapy at a luxury center in California.
Boyd has since retired.
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Authorities say Couch recently violated his parole by leaving the country. They state his parole officer hasn’t been able to reach the killer teen or his enabling mother.
The Texas legal system was deemed a joke after the Affluenza story went viral, and the county sheriff’s office has vowed that Couch will no longer make them look like fools.
“Any mess-ups from now on, he’s going to be over with us,” Terry Grisham, the spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriff’s office, said to Raw Story. “He’s going to see what the big-boy jail is like.”
The problem is no one can find Couch. Ironically, the wealth that set him free is also what enables him to go wherever he wants.
“With the wealth and the wherewithal that his family has, it’s going to be a tough assignment for us to find him,” Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said.
On the day that Couch killed four people, he and his friends stole beer from Wal-Mart. He then drove drunk and slammed into four good Samaritans who had stopped to help a stranded motorist. All four people were killed and two of Couch’s friends were injured.
“Affluenza aside, Ethan Couch appears to show blatant disregard for the law, and he must be held accountable,” Colleen Sheehey-Church of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said. “The families impacted will never have their loved ones back; Ethan Couch must have consequences for his actions.”
If the authorities find Couch, he may face up to ten years in prison.
“It’s one of those times when you hate to say, ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so,” Sheriff Anderson said. “I knew he was going to end up in more trouble.”
It’s safe to say that nearly everyone did.
Source: https://www.jdjournal.com/2013/12/12/texas-teen-gets-10-years-probation-for-drunk-driving-kills-4/
Source: https://www.jdjournal.com/2015/12/11/the-drunk-driving-saga-of-ethan-couch/
