A tremendous amount of taxpayer resources were wasted on this hoax. The penalty needs to be stiff and needs to include at least some jail time as a deterrent to other whack jobs looking for their 15 minutes. You cannot create a climate where hoaxing the cops is tolerated and excused.
They interfered with FAA flight paths and caused dozens of government employees to stop their normal work to chase down their “missing” kid. Both of those are criminal, heck the FAA thing is a felony.
I think this was stupidity and hubris, not crime. That said, they played a very expensive trick on state and local government, and should be asked to pay at least a part of the cost. There have to be some consequences of their actions. They should not be left to mosey off, scot-free, and they should not be left with the idea that they can get away with it again.
It absolutely was criminal and they should both do jail time. Someone could have been killed in a rescue attempt or killed if this had come down in traffic. The financial damage that they did was substantial. They must be made an example of to prevent future nut-jobs from doing similar things for their 15 minutes of fame or to promote some business venture with a stunt like this.
Throw the book at them. The kids will be better off in foster care then with these two.
Wrong, it WAS criminal if done intentionally. Plenty of people were put at risk and the parents are damned lucky no one got hurt. Full restitution and some jail time is due. They’ll be lucky to keep custody of their children.
These morons fabricated an incident, potentially exposed law enforcement personnel and others to hazard during the latter’s pursuit of the balloon, potentially pulled those personnel away from other duties, cost the county, and other governmental units money; all for apparently, publicity.
As a retired prosecutor from New York, I would sit down and thumb through the Penal Law page by page, and charge them with everything that their conduct fit.
I have to agree with you. Charge the family for the cost of rescue but don’t take their kids.
It really bothered me when I saw the sheriff saying that Children’s Services was called because of video’s on YouTube. Would I take my kids Storm Chasing? No. But my kids rode dirt bikes from an early age, some would say that is dangerous, should they take my kids away? What about skiing? Swimming? Hunting? Perhaps we will get to the point in time where we all just get our kids the Wii so they can do virtual things in life and not get hurt.
They are strange, yes but I don’t think they are evil. Right now, here in GA there is a story of a woman who literally starved her child. At 13 mos. he weighed 18 lbs. They are blaming it on the doctors, they never told her she had to feed this child!!! Hello? She is evil.
Turds like this family COUNT on us being merciful.
Their actions were INTENTIONAL.
They knew what they were doing.
They knew the consequences, and even escalated those consequences.
The Cobra Kai had it right.
“Mercy is for the weak!”
Bare minimum would be complete restitution of every rescue worker's fully loaded pay (including 1/250 of the year's retirement, sick leave, vacation and insurance costs), all the fuel, service and depreciation costs for their vehicles (helicopters aren't cheap) along with a big fine and at least a couple months of jail time. A year would be too much, but a missing summer sounds about right. Also, don't allow them to profit from book, magazine, television or movies sales on this topic. I don't want them getting a million dollar book deal for this scam.
What a stupid post.
Of course it was criminal. Filing false reports and ending up utilizing government property ( search and resuce material) and people to perpetuate your fraud is definitely criminal. Child endangerment ( and trust me these kids are in danger) is criminal. AND as stupid as this dick is that ought to be criminal.
They cost taxpayers millions, inconvenienced travelers, and most importantly put the lives or rescuers at risk with their silly, childish, reckless prank.
I would agree that the children should not be taken away over this. I would stagger the parents’ jail time so they would not both be incarcerated at the same time.
That said, I believe an investigation is in order to determine the fitness of the the parents. I saw some clips of the Heene’s appearance on “Wife Swap” and some of the behavior of both parents (especially the father) was troubling. Also, they seem to be raising the boys without any discipline or manners. Now I realize that some of this may have been a show for the “reality” TV cameras, but if they are really anything like they appeared to be on “Wife Swap” some sort of intervention is needed. If those boys are really raised the way the clips suggested, it will take a miracle for them not to grow up to be felons.
The Parents should make full restitution for all expenses related to the search. A public apology should be made to the men and women whose lives they put into jeopardy with a false search and rescue.
They should participate in rehabilitation classes and several hours of community service. They should be required to attend several hours of parenting classes under the watchful eye of Child Protective Services. The father should be required to attend counseling separate from the family.
The balloon boy hoax apparently isn’t an isolated incident. There appears to be a pattern to this dysfunctional family’s madness. Let’s hope someone helps them clean up their mess and achieve stability in their lives.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Alot of first responders were tied up...taking vital life saving technicians out of the field and into ‘balloon chase mode.’ In a common heart attack scenario, minutes are precious...what if the closest first responder was out in the field, ready to assist the ‘crashed’ Falcon and it was your loved one who died or was injured waiting for a different ambulance service to provide care?
In addition the Air Force was involved; Denver Internation diverted air traffic; private (TV) helicopters were used. Alot of resources and personnel.
And as to the Child Welfare Agency weighing in...well, that was a consideration mom and dad Henne should have thought thru...IF we do this; and if the authorities find it to be a publicity stunt, could the ‘authorities’ ponder the care and safety of our children.
They brought it upon themselves...
Just from the Wife Swap Show and the YouTube clips (did you catch papa Henne and his scary Hillary as Reptile rant?) the boys have absolutely NO discipline or boundaries; couple that with attention grabbing parents (who like to keep large flight devices loosely tethered) and I can understand why Child Welfare would step in.
And there's way more criminality in murdering somebody than there is in shoplifting a six-pack of beer. So, should we not punish shoplifters?