Lawyer: Balloon boy dad wrongly accused

Oct 19, 2009, 16:36 GMT

San Francisco - The lawyer for the Colorado father accused of creating an elaborate publicity stunt in which his six-year-old son was thought to have been carried off by a helium-filled balloon last week, said Monday that his client had been wrongly accused.

Colorado Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters Sunday that authorities were planning to press charges against Richard and Mayumi Heene, saying that police had been 'manipulated' by the parents of the boy, who were seeking to profit from the publicity generated by the event.

'We have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt, done with the hope of marketing themselves for a reality show at some point in the future,' he said. 'On the bizarre meter, this rates a 10.'

On Thursday, world media carried the story of the boy who was believed to have climbed into a flying-saucer-shaped helium balloon moored in his back yard, and was carried off over the state when it came loose.

A search then ensued when the child was not found inside the balloon when it landed. He was later found at home.

Alderen said the family planned the stunt for two weeks and that he planned to charge parents with conspiracy and false reporting. Police said they were also planning to interview an associate of the father who claimed to have exchanged emails several months ago about creating a balloon stunt to create publicity for the family.

Richard Heene has denied repeatedly that the incident was a publicity stunt for the experimental helium balloon he had designed, built and kept in his backyard. The Heenes were also believed to be interested in generating publicity for a reality TV show they were pitching to US cable channels.

Attorney David Lane told NBC that he expected charges to be presented by Wednesday but insisted that his client was 'wrongly accused.' He cautioned the media about accepting the police's version of what happened.

'Let's see what they've got,' Lane told NBC, in reference to the possible charges.

Heene and has family have participated in the TV reality show Wife Swap and there were questions about whether he had created a stunt to capture media attention and boost his profile.

The five-member Heene family had been giving daily television interviews to the major broadcast and cable networks, during which the child, Falcon, had thrown up several times from the excitement.

Speculation that the incident may have been staged increased when Falcon looked at his father during a CNN remote interview and said, 'You said, 'We did this for the show'.' Heene, a scientific tinkerer and storm chaser, looked at his child sternly, and later dismissed such speculation as 'pathetic.'