Teen who killed 4 to get treatment in O.C.

A wealthy 16-year-old boy who killed four people and injured several others in a Texas drunk-driving accident will receive treatment at an Orange County rehabilitation facility but serve no prison time, according to news reports.

The treatment comes as part of a 10-year probation period for the driver, Ethan Couch. The teen could have faced up to 20 years behind bars.

His case made national headlines after a psychologist called by the defense testified that Couch suffered from “affluenza,” meaning his upbringing instilled in him a sense of entitlement that led to irresponsible choices, as reported in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In June, Couch struck four pedestrians and a parked vehicle in which two children were sitting, with his Ford pickup. Seven people had piled into the truck with Couch, and two sitting in the bed were thrown from the vehicle.

Couch had stolen beer from a local Walmart earlier in the evening and thrown a party at his parent’s second home, authorities said.

Several hours after the crash, his blood-alcohol concentration measured three times the legal limit for adults, according to a news release from the Tarrant County district attorney’s office.

A Texas district judge last week intended to seek out an intensive, long-term treatment facility for Couch, rather than send him home to his family, according to the release.

Defense attorneys recommended a rehabilitation facility near Newport Beach that could cost more than $450,000 a year, according to the Star-Telegram.

OC Weekly identified the chosen caregiver as Newport Academy, which has programs in Orange, Newport Beach and Connecticut.

Neither a Newport Academy spokesperson nor Couch’s attorney, Scott Brown, could be reached Monday for comment.