Calif. father Sloan Briles gets rehab after throwing son, 7, overboard
(CBS) NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Sloan Briles, the father who threw his 7-year-old son off a cruise boat into Newport Harbor, is scheduled to report to a rehab program by the end of the week.
The former marine, 35, pleaded guilty Monday to felony child abuse and resisting arrest in the Aug. 28 incident, reports CBS Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times reports Briles was sentenced to three years of probation, 180 days in a Veterans Administration residential treatment program and one year in treatment for child abuse.
Briles reportedly slapped his son while aboard a tour boat and tossed him into the harbor. Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Him Amormino said the boy was crying about an argument between Briles and his father's girlfriend before the incident occurred.
"Three boaters that were nearby came to the boy's rescue," said Amormino. "The father did eventually jump in, but by that time the boy was rescued by a boater."
Both the boy and his brother were later returned to their mother's care.
If Briles fails to complete the inpatient program, he will serve six months in Orange County Jail and receive no credit for time already spent in treatment.
"It's an all or nothing deal," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Cyril Yu, who said he was satisfied with the guilty plea but believed Briles deserved jail time.
"Certainly he was cognizant of what took place," Yu said.
Briles was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident, and his lawyer said he was hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal for two days after his arrest.