Balloon Boy ruling

sucrets4 · December 2009

Dad got 90 days in jail, 4 years probation, and any $ made from interviews or anything he has to give up. I forget, but the Mom is going to get something, too.

Just heard it on the news, not sure if there's anything online yet.

What do you think?

sarahmk5 · December 2009

I think that's pretty fair. I wonder if CPS ever investigated the family and/or what the findings were.

lyndausvi · December 2009

sounds fair to me.

bbyckes · December 2009

I think making him fork over any profit from this incident is a just punishment. This will have an impact on him more than any jail time ever could.

wadingmoose · December 2009

I really wish they also fined him the cost of the search and rescue efforts. They need to start doing that, particularly for faked calls.

bbyckes · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_balloon-boy-ruling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a750194f-b776-4201-8c6b-199c23cdb50ePost:8bdf50a7-ae89-43ec-8006-e1d9d265f38a">Re: Balloon Boy ruling</a>:
[QUOTE]I think that's pretty fair. I wonder if CPS ever investigated the family and/or what the findings were.
Posted by sarahmk5[/QUOTE]

They did. They found that the children were well cared for. Any subsequent investigations were dropped.

danieliza1127 · December 2009

CNN.com is saying some of the 90 day sentence will be served on work release.

I think it's fair given the huge amount of money spent by authorities tracking that balloon thinking the little boy was inside. And the guy definitely shouldn't be able to profit from it. He's lucky they aren't making him pay back the cost of the search.

salt78 · December 2009

I think that kid needs a new family.

vallyhoo · December 2009

I don't think it's harsh enough to deter any other wanna-be reality TV star from pulling their own publicity stunt. And I agree with Moose, they absolutely should fine him the cost of the search and rescue.

betrothed123 · December 2009

a link: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/12/23/2009-12-23_balloon_boys_parents_richard_and_mayumi_heene_set_for_sentencing.html

I also think the should have been fined for the search.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · December 2009

Sounds fair.

I agree that they should have to reimburse authorities for the search, though.

The mom was really cooperative and admitted it was to make them "more marketable" for a reality show, so maybe that's why she got less.

I can't believe people sometimes. If my spouse suggested we pretend our kid is in danger to try to nab a TV show, I'd walk out the door and try to get the court to give me sole custody with no visitation.

sucrets4 · December 2009

Yeah, I like that they thought about the profit from any publicity. And I agree that he should have to reimburse the cost of the searches.

bbyckes · December 2009

They struck a deal on the mom's behalf. I think if she were charged with a felony she would've been deported, as she immigrated from Japan.

ExpatPumpkin · December 2009

They probably didn't charge him with the search because they didn't want to set a precedent in which people are scared to call 911...

Meaning you think the kid may have been carried away in the runaway hot air balloon, for example, but you're scared to call because you're not 100% sure and you don't want to be charged for a false call. And the kid dies in the meantime

RachNRich · December 2009

I'm not gunna lie--it seems like a slap on the wrist, especially if the 90-day jail time isn't spent in actually in jail.

This family staged a crazy all out search for their son--they lead the country, and even the world, to believe their crazy antics had potentially cost their own son his life. So, he has to give back the money he made while profiting from the shitshow he started? Big whoop. I think this family needs their asses handed to them--and they need to be held responsible for the costs that went into the search and investigation.

RachNRich · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_balloon-boy-ruling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a750194f-b776-4201-8c6b-199c23cdb50ePost:06790e35-ad2d-4913-b273-78569d5cce3b">Re: Balloon Boy ruling</a>:
[QUOTE]They probably didn't charge him with the search because they didn't want to set a precedent in which people are scared to call 911... Meaning you think the kid may have been carried away in the runaway hot air balloon, for example, but you're scared to call because you're not 100% sure and you don't want to be charged for a false call. And the kid dies in the meantime :(
Posted by ExpatPumpkin[/QUOTE]

There is a <strong>BIG</strong> difference between being scared to call the police because of uncertainty---and calling the police under the pretence that your child just floated away, knowing the entire time you made the shit-up. Big difference.

betrothed123 · December 2009

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_balloon-boy-ruling?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:a750194f-b776-4201-8c6b-199c23cdb50ePost:06790e35-ad2d-4913-b273-78569d5cce3b">Re: Balloon Boy ruling</a>:
[QUOTE]They probably didn't charge him with the search because they didn't want to set a precedent in which people are scared to call 911... Meaning you think the kid may have been carried away in the runaway hot air balloon, for example, but you're scared to call because you're not 100% sure and you don't want to be charged for a false call. And the kid dies in the meantime :(
Posted by ExpatPumpkin[/QUOTE]
I understand what you're saying, but we have laws against filing false police reports. I can't remember the specifics, but I do remember a case a while back (on a much smaller scale) where someone filed a false report, a search was done, and the person who filed the report was charged for the investigation and search.

ExpatPumpkin · December 2009

Yes, there is a big (huge!) difference between what they did, and someone making a genuine mistake. But it's still possible that in a time of possible crisis someone would be scared to call because they're not 100% sure. Not everyone is smart/confident enough to know the difference.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · December 2009

In some instances, if you're an idiot and do something illegal or contrary to government orders and get yourself trapped, you can be charged for a search and rescue.

Actually, there were some people around here who didn't evacuate during a wildfire and were trapped. At some point the rescue team was like, "Sorry, we can't get in there without severely risking our own lives. No dice." The people ended up being okay. (Some other people tried to ride out the fire in a hot tub and were not okay - they ended up rescued, but hospitalized.) I've heard of the same sort of thing, or at least being fined severely, if you're caught in an avalanche after repeated avalanche warnings or something similar, especially when others are risking their lives for your stupidity.