The Heene hoax...just a bad prank or should it be viewed as criminal?

Maybe a misdemeanor for filing a false police report and BIG civil bill that they will be paying off the rest of their lives.

Oh it is clearly criminal, even more so if the wife was telling the truth. Did you read about HER comments? That they set it up as a hoax all along? That they had the children rehearse their lines basically? This story sounds pretty believable when you factor in the comments about oh I thought I had to do this for the show, or whatever the exact comment was. The father is doing everything to not get in trouble, but I don't buy his story. Anyway I think this is beyond a harmless accident where the older child THOUGHT the younger one got in and was really in it. Even if that was the case they say the balloon never would have taken off with the weight, the parents should have known that and pointed it out from the start. Also remember the Denver Airport had to be temporary shut down.

When you send the entire emergency services of the city in a potentially dangerous wild chase that's 100% criminal.

It's not that easy to follow a balloon in the sky while you drive or fly trying to catch up with it, anyone could have had a serious accident.

Not forgetting that the bill goes to the tax payers.

EDIT

The most ironic here is that the producer of the "Wife Swap" show already had a show in development for the Heenes....so there was no need for the hoax, the idiots just ruined everything for nothing, and obviously the deal is now off.

Here's how criminal it is. If one of the rescue workers had been killed during the "prank," the charge would be at the very least manslaughter, or more properly murder. The idea that this is something that can be written off as a harmless prank is ridiculous. All of those resources were used and valuable time of the rescuers wasted, and all of those lives were put in harm's way trying to find the "missing" child. The funny thing is, they got what they wanted. Notoriety. And some idiot producer probably WILL give them the reality show they wanted when all is said and done.

And people wonder what's wrong with America today?

Definitely criminal. Look at what it cost to mount that rescue effort. And how many crimes were committed or unsolved because the police were searching for that boy?

That the father needed to be on television so badly to do this is criminal. He should not be allowed to have these children in his care.