Horrified as well...
A couple of points- This kid wouldn't have lasted a night in county jail- just a fact.
However, when I heard the defense, and the role the kids parents played in rationalizing the defense, I thought "Why not give the parents the choice to serve the sentence to them for 10 years each for "reckless parenting".
But if you click the link above about the lawsuits that are being filed, I now realize their world is about to come crashing down on the them- truck registered to his fathers business, his business will be up for grabs by the lawyers of relatives of the victims...who will get a "check", but nothing that can ever make them whole.
This family is going to be destroyed... they threw everything at saving their kid, which has to be a tough nightmare for any parents. This kid and his family did not catch a break , other than not losing their son to the sexual abuse of a prison. Their are truly no winners here.
And as someone who sometimes stops to try to help people in distress, this story just gives me one more reason to worry about doing it.