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Ethan Couch: ‘Affluenza teen’ detained in Mexico Ethan Couch: ‘Affluenza teen’ detained in Mexico
(about 5 hours later)
A teenager from Texas has been taken into custody in Mexico after breaking his probation sentence. A privileged American teenager dubbed the “Affluenza Kid” has been detained in Mexico, weeks after absconding with his mother and breaking the probation order he received for killing four people in a drink-driving crash.
The juvenile court sentenced Ethan Couch to 10 years’ probation in 2013 after he killed four people while driving drunk.  Ethan Couch, 18, earned international notoriety after a psychologist successfully argued at his trial that the teenager was so spoiled by his wealthy parents that he had never learned the difference between right and wrong.
The case became well-known after it was claimed Couch, who was 16 at the time, was suffering from “affluenza” - a term used by a psychologist who said he was unable to distinguish between right and wrong because of his wealth. In June 2013, when he was 16, Couch and some friends stole two cases of beer from a Walmart shop near Fort Worth in Texas, and then piled into his pick-up truck to go for a drive. The speeding teenager lost control of the vehicle, striking a stranded motorist and three other people who had stopped to help him with his broken-down vehicle. All four were killed.
Earlier this month, Couch, now 18, was placed on Tarrant County’s most wanted list after he and his mother Tonya disappeared. A warrant for his apprehension was issued. One of Couch’s seven passengers was thrown from the truck and suffered permanent brain damage. Afterwards, Couch was found to have a blood-alcohol level almost three times the legal limit.
But an official from Tarrant County said on Monday that Couch had been detained in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. According to CNN, it is thought that Mexican authorities will turn him and his mother over to the US Marshals Service. It was not his first run-in with the authorities. The previous February, he had been caught by police with a can of beer and a bottle of vodka and charged for possessing and consuming alcohol as a minor. A year before the fatal accident, officers had come across Couch in a parked pick-up truck with an unconscious, undressed girl of 14.
Police said they were checking reports that Couch may have fled the US following the release of a video which appeared to show him at a party where alcohol was being consumed. Couch has been ordered to stay away from alcohol for the duration of his probation. Prosecutors at his trial demanded a 20-year prison sentence, but Dr Dick Miller testified that Couch had been raised by indulgent parents who had never established boundaries for his behaviour, giving him “freedoms no young person should have”. The psychologist called the teenager’s condition “affluenza” and recommended that he undergo a course of therapy away from his parents, as opposed to a prison term, although he later said he wished he had not.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said earlier this month that Couch had missed an appointment with his probation officer and that he and his mother could not be found at their home, NBCDFW.com reported. The judge appeared to agree with the psychologist’s diagnosis, sentencing Couch to 10 years of probation for intoxication manslaughter and ordering him to enrol in a private $450,000-a-year (£300,000) rehabilitation centre in Newport Beach, California, for which his father would foot the bill. Angry commentators cited the case as an example of a two-tier US justice system that favoured the rich.
“He never, after killing four innocent people, showed one instance of any regret or remorse and, so, I felt like he would never successfully complete his probation,” he said. Last month, the district attorney’s office in Tarrant County, Texas, asked for Couch’s case be transferred from the juvenile court to the adult court, which could lead to stricter probation terms. 
In 2013, Couch lost control of his vehicle and killed four people. His blood-alcohol level had been nearly three-times the legal limit. A friend who had been in the vehicle with Couch was left permanently brain damaged. Then, early in December, a brief video clip surfaced on Twitter that appeared to show Couch at a party where people were consuming alcohol. If caught drinking in breach of the terms of his probation, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Couch pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication and manslaughter, and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. On 10 December, Couch skipped a mandatory appointment with his probation officer and was later found to have disappeared along with his mother, Tonya Couch, 48. Tarrant County officials issued a warrant for his arrest, while the US Marshals Service offered a $5,000 reward for information regarding his whereabouts.
G Dick Miller, the psychologist who used the term “affluenza” during the trial, later said he wished he had not. The Mexican authorities, who had reportedly been looking for the pair since Boxing Day, took them into custody on Monday evening in the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta. A police booking picture showed that the formerly blond Couch now had dark hair. He and his mother were passed to the country’s immigration authorities pending deportation to the US.
Additional reporting by Reuters