Rich teen gets probation after killing 4 in DUI crash
A judge sentenced a 16-year-old boy who killed four people while driving
drunk to 10 years' probation in lieu of jail time, saying the boy suffered
from "affluenza" because he grew up so wealthy, according to WFAA.com.
Ethan Crouch and his friends had just stolen beer from a Walmart in Burleson
, Texas and were on their way to get more when the crash happened. Crouch's
blood alcohol level was at .24 as he drove his white pick up truck at about
70 miles per hour, CBS-DFW reports.
Crouch hit and killed four pedestrians -- a youth pastor, a mother and
daughter, and a 24-year-old woman -- and injured nine other people,
including two of his friends who were in the truck.
The sentence came Tuesday for the June 15 crash, and instead of sentencing
the teen to 20 years in jail, as was the goal of the prosecution, the judge
decided that probation and therapy would be better suited for the affluent
teen, according to WFAA.
During the trial, the defense examined Crouch's life as a wealthy child,
saying he was taught that he could get away with anything.
A psychologist called by the defense said Crouch began driving at 13, was
allowed to drink and never even got in trouble when police found him passed
out in his truck with a naked girl, WFAA reports.
The judge has ordered that he has no contact with his parents, but Crouch's
dad will be paying $450,000 for him to live in a home in California where he
'll receive intensive therapy.
