Deadbeat dads everywhere are celebrating the fact that they’re perhaps not the worst dad in the United States. That title belongs to Richard Heene, who tugged our heartstrings, lied, and made his kid hide in a box for hours… all for publicity. TMZ showed one of the public “smoking guns,” a public profile he created late in November pitching himself for reality television. Turns out, TMZ reports, Heene already has a criminal record.

My advice last week to my kids was “never hide from us or police.” My new advice, “don’t lie to police, even I was stupid enough to pull something like this.”

Here’s an article that shows the tool in a bra on YouTube. I figure it needs a few more inbound links.

Seems Richard Heene could face charges as high as $2 million, although these are rare. There’s also comfort in knowing that this has undermined Heene’s credibility enough to likely kill his goal of a reality television show. I’ve never protested a network, but I can guarantee I’d make the biggest possible stink of any network that paid him a dime for this story or any future circus.