Outrage, but not surprise over 'affluenza' teen on the lam

[garyoak99]

Disgusted, yes. Shocked, no.

That's what Kevin McConnell feels after learning that Ethan Couch -- the teenager who killed four people and injured several others, including McConnell's then 12-year-old son Lucas, while driving drunk on a Texas road -- is on the lam. In the McConnells' view, Couch was never held accountable. Not meeting with his probation officer and fleeing to points unknown, McConnell says, goes along with that.

"No surprises at all; there was a pattern," Kevin McConnell said Friday. "Nothing is going to make an impact on this guy unless there's something severe or certain."

That's why, in his victim impact statement in court in 2013, Lucas McConnell told Couch, "While I think we should do our best at forgiving, I believe if this situation is not handled with severity, you won't take it seriously."

Couch's lawyers had argued that the teen's parents deserved much of the blame. They even called a psychologist who testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from "affluenza" -- meaning he was a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him.

Tarrant County Juvenile Court Judge Jean Boyd decided against a long prison term, instead giving him 10 years probation and mandating that he get treatment. And instantly, there was outrage: How could someone kill and then avoid jail partly because he was spoiled? Would others who weren't as wealthy have gotten the same treatment? And what confidence should anyone have that Couch or, for that matter, the parents who'd enabled him, will change?

Edited by rogbow

Link removed yet again as it is stretching the forum out.
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[msidoh]