The Affluenza teen case out of Fort Worth, TX has taken another controversial, some might say face-palm-worthy, turn.

According to AP, the teen’s wealthy parents, with the help of lawyers Reagan Wynn and Lance Evan, successfully argued that the teen’s reckless behavior was due to “Affluenza”. Now it is reported that they only have to pay a fraction of their son Ethan’s court-ordered treatment.

The argument was that Ethan Couch’s parents had given him such a decadent, coddled lifestyle that he wasn’t responsible for driving drunk and high on Valium the day he plowed into and killed four people and injured several others as they helped a stranded motorist on the side of the road.

As infuriating as the argument was, as well as the subsequent win of the case and light punishment, this new development takes the cake.

The parents, who were too rich to raise a kid who is responsible for his actions, will be only be charged $1,170 a month for his treatment at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon. That would only pay for about two days. Who pays for the rest? You and me.

Debbie Spoonts, who is Tarrant County Juvenile Services’ placement supervisor, said the facility decided what Fred and Tonya Couch would pay based on a sliding scale. I would like to see that scale.

Evans, the attorney for Tonya and Fred Couch, said that after hearing the news of the slashed treatment bill for their son, the family “respects the decision of the facility and of the court, and will honor the payment system that the court has put in place.”

Several of the families of the victims have sued the Couchs and won settlements, but there is one parent who isn’t taking a settlement. Kevin McConnell, who had a child that was injured in the wreck, says he wants a trial not money.

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