INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

‘Affluenza Mom’ Is Free From Jail On Bail

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 08:17 PST, Jan 12, 2016

Tonya Couch, the “affluenza mom,” has been bailed out of the Tarrant County jail and is now on home confinement with her son from her first marriage. Couch will have to wear an ankle monitor and be available for police and/or the court to check on her at any time. Couch is still crying poverty, although she was able to take $30,000 out of an account to go on the run. She also put up a thousand-dollar reward in Mexico for the return of her son Ethan’s dog that went on the run with them.

According to the Inquisitr, the father of Ethan Couch, Fred Couch, filed for divorce from Tonya Couch back in August. Fred Couch said that he will not contribute financially in any way to Tonya Couches’ scheme. Court documents show a majorly dysfunctional household, where Ethan Couch shared a bedroom with his mother.

CNN reported that Tonya Couch was released this morning into the custody of her son from her first marriage, Steven McWilliams, with a list of requirements to remain out on bail.

  • Wear an electronic ankle monitor.
  • Report to authorities on a weekly basis.
  • Live in Tarrant County with her 29-year-old son and his family.
  • Abstain from using controlled substances or alcohol (she’ll be drug tested).
  • Be placed under 24-hour home confinement (lawyers and doctors are allowed to visit her).
  • Not possess or transport any firearms or weapons.
  • Pay a monthly $60 supervision fee. Avoid “bad actors.”

Sadly, Couch has surrounded herself in the past with “bad actors,” and so she needs to be careful about the people she associates with.

The New York Daily News says that Tonya Couch left jail this morning with a visible ankle monitor. She ignored the reporters who were waiting for her outside of the jailhouse. Outside the McWilliams’ home is a no trespassing sign to attempt to keep the media away. The son in the middle of the crime, Ethan Couch, remains in a Mexican prison.

“According to the Dallas Morning News, he racked up a hefty charge at a Mexican strip club during his time on the lam — and had to call his mommy to come pay his tab.”

The local ABC affiliate said that although the judge seemed to want to keep Tonya Couch in jail, he said he needed to follow the letter of the law.

“You cannot set a bail just to keep someone in jail,” Salvant said.

Stephanie Patten, attorney for the defendant, argued that Couch was not a flight risk, but she had already proven that wasn’t true, and the inability to produce her passport was also troubling.

“I have got to look at the law,” Salvant said on Monday. “I just don’t believe, with everything I’ve heard today, that it should be $1 million.”

But Sheriff Dee Anderson was still frustrated with the outcome.

“We hope that the restrictions that were put on her are going to be sufficient to keep her where she needs to be,” he said after the bond was reduced. “I think that’s always a concern that you’re going to have with someone who’s already fled one time.”

Patten still insists that her client, Tonya Couch, did nothing wrong, but she will still have to answer to the charges that she aided Ethan Couch in going on the run while knowing that the authorities were looking for him for a probation violation.

Do you think Tonya Couch should have been put on house arrest?

[Photo by Brandon Wade/AP]

Share this article: ‘Affluenza Mom’ Is Free From Jail On Bail
Affluenza
More from Inquisitr