Ethan Couch's Mom Made A Disconcerting Admission

Tonya Couch, mother of widely-hated “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch, has been extradited back to the US after allegedly attempting to flee justice with her son. In a deposition acquired by ABC, Tonya made a pretty alarming admission: When asked to name the last time she’d disciplined Ethan in any way, Tonya Couch said, “I don’t remember.” That’s shocking, but in another sense, not shocking at all.

Ethan, of course, gained infamy in 2013, when the then-16-year-old killed four people in a drunk driving accident; he also had Valium and marijuana in his body, and his blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit . Despite the severity of the crime, Ethan avoided serving prison time when a psychiatrist testified that he had “affluenza” — that is, he was raised with such an abundance of wealth, he couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong. This understandably outraged just about everybody; that outraged grew recently after Ethan and his mom reportedly fled the US to Mexico, a violation of his probation.

Tonya’s deposition recently leaked to 20/20, and in it, she had the following exchange with an (unidentified) attorney.

Attorney: Do you recall ever disciplining Ethan for anything?Tonya: Sometimes I would take little things away from him, or we would just discuss the problems.

And then:

Attorney: When’s the last time you recall disciplining Ethan for anything?

Tonya: I don’t remember.

Sadly, this fits well with the general consensus of the Ethan Couch case. His mother’s admission that she can’t remember ever disciplining him for anything — and, equally, that the discipline she couldn’t remember administering often amounted to “discuss[ing] the problems” — reinforces the idea that Ethan was spoiled endlessly by his parents and raised to believe he could act without consequence.

Tonya and Ethan were discovered in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in December, two years after the accident. Ethan is currently detained in Mexico, while Tonya was returned to the US and is now in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department. According to reports, the family allegedly had a “going away party” before fleeing the country, and the two were tracked via a pizza delivery they’d made.

The particulars of Couch's case mean that, as of now, he only faces a maximum of 120 days in jail for his parole violation. Tonya, on the other hand, could serve between two and 10 years in prison if convicted of hindering apprehension of a juvenile.