Legally they are presumed innocent. But so far their own actions and words have led to a general feeling of this was for publicity. They are certainly getting it too. So yes they deserve the same presumption of innocence as everyone else.

In the Balloon Boy case, the police have publicly stated they believed in the “innocence” of the family, even though the were sure that the entire incident had been a hoax. The police said they made this statement because they wanted to maintain the family’s trust so that they would continue to cooperate in the case and provide more information that could help resolve the case. True, the “presumption of innocence” is granted to mostly everyone until evidence to the contrary is brought to light, however, it already seems as though the balloon incident was premeditated and planned weeks ahead of time and so the “presumption of innocence” may not be so fitting. There are currently further investigations under way that attempt to find out more about suspected emails that were exchanged between the father of the boy (Richard Heenes) and a man named Robert Thomas, who already told media about Heenes’ plans for a publicity stunt in order to promote his proposed reality show. The problem with this hoax is that the authorities as well as the general public were completely convinced that the boy was on board the balloon and the whole country very likely shuddered and trembled along, waiting for news on balloon sightings and praying that the boy would be fine. That said, when the balloon was finally found back on ground but with no child in sight, everybody watching the news likely experienced feelings of shock and hopelessness, as a child that small would not have survived a fall from the balloon. The family had police tracking the balloon, airports initiated emergency shut-downs and delayed flights, the national guard used helicopters to find the child and come to his rescue, and when the balloon had landed, local authorities started search parties to find the “body” of the child, in case he had dropped. Thousands of dollars were spent during this incident to locate, track, and reach the balloon in an attempt to rescue the child and ensure his safety. Putting this much strain on the resources of various agencies, let alone the emotional strain and empathy aroused within the hearts of the public who watched the event live on the news, is simply a cruel and ignorant act perpetrated by the parents, who just wanted public attention. I think there is no innocence in this case and I am hoping that the parents will be held accountable for what they did. If charged with a felony for this case, the parents could be facing 6 years in prison (max) and $ 500,000 in fine. While the prison sentence may not be beneficial for their family, since they do have 3 young boys to take care of, a fine should certainly be exerted at least to repay some of the costs that arose due to their hoax. The family’s behavior was simply irresponsible, since they drug their children into their vicious plan, and now they are likely the ones who will suffer most from the consequences, especially if the parents face prison time or repayment of a large sum of money (which can jeopardize the family’s financial future).