A 2006 episode of ABC's news show Primetime called "Stepfamilies in Crisis" depicted a fifteen-year-old girl being punched by her stepfather. That girl, Kyle Nelson, is now twenty, and she wants to know why ABC didn't intervene. She's suing the network for "gross negligence," reports the Press Republican. According to the AP, by the time ABC aired the footage, the statute of limitations had expired, so it was too late to prosecute the abuse.
When the show aired, viewers were furious to see no one stepping in to stop the violence. ABC addressed the controversy by having Kyle on Good Morning America to defend her stepfather. Here's an excerpt from CNN's coverage of the fallout:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYLE NELSON, DAUGHTER: Stop! Stop! Stop!
VARGAS (voice-over): A father beating his 15-year-old daughter.
DON NELSON, FATHER: I have never (expletive deleted) lied to you. Never have I lied to you, you little bitch!
VARGAS: This is the "Prime Time" footage that`s causing a big-time fuss, shown to the public but not reported to the authorities. ABC aired this controversial footage Friday night as part of "Prime Time`s" special focusing on pressures that stepfamilies face. It`s very hard to watch.
It all starts as the Nelsons, a New York family, discuss grades and homework. When things get heated, suddenly it`s an argument, and the father is out of control. He unleashes his fury on his daughter. ABC`s cameras catch the repeated hits.
The daughter, Kyle, screams as her stepmother not only watches from the couch, but pretends to hit her, as well. This particular piece of tape has viewers and authorities outraged. Thousands flooding the ABC web site, angry and disgusted viewers wanting to know why the tape wasn`t handed over to authorities.
D. NELSON: You dirty little bitch!
VARGAS: ABC News didn`t think Kyle was in danger. In a statement posted on its web site, ABC says, "While we felt the incident in question was disturbing, it was the only scene of physical punishment in the hundreds of hours of footage that ABC News reviewed."
A discussion of moral vs. legal responsibility ensues.
It seems pretty clear that even if the First-Amendment-protected press had no legal responsibility to report the abuse, there's a pretty strong moral obligation to do so. Who were they to decide that the girl wasn't in danger?
ABC's weak response - "it was the only scene of physical punishment" - suggests parents are allowed to abuse their child without penalty if it only happens once (in view of cameras).
It will be fascinating to hear what the court has to say about it now.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 5)
16. The film crew was filming humans in an American home - not Wildlife on an African game preserve.
Robert E. Quillen at 2:13AM on Feb 22nd 2008
17. Hey Alan thats a direct quote from somewhere right? If not than you are just spreading more bad press about a beautiful breed that has done nothing except fall victim to malicious owners that treat them inhumanely.
Ann at 2:42AM on Feb 22nd 2008
18. WHO WOULD OF THOUGHT THAT SUSAN VARGAS WOULD HAVE JUST STOOD THERE? IM APPAULED !!!!!
SHELLEY DAVIDSON at 3:15PM on Feb 23rd 2008
19. chris, I suspect that you are not a parent. until you are a self-supporting person, you are your parents responsibility. if at 14 or 15, and you feel you are able to be emancipated, you can petition the courts to do so.
web jones at 6:22AM on Feb 22nd 2008
20. Once, while working as a security officer at a store in a mall, I was standing out in front of the store when I saw a woman emerge from a toy store nearby. Behind her, was a little boy about 5 (her son) whom she was trying to coax away from the toy store. Naturally, he didn't want to leave and started crying and stamping his feet. The mother then ran over to him and slapped him across the face with enough force to lift his little body off the ground and send him flying ten feet!! I drew my pepper spray, ordered the woman to step away from the child and affected her arrest. Between my testimony, the photos of the hand print on his face and the mall CCTV footage, she got 3 to 5 years and had to serve 18 months.
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 8:21AM on Feb 22nd 2008
21. Off subject, but I agree with you Ann. I hate to see pit bulls involved in a joke that demonizes them. They are beautiful dogs. Bad behavior is a direct result of irresponsible ownership.
Off my soapbox now.
(P.S. pretty funny dark humor, though)
Linda at 9:55AM on Feb 22nd 2008
22. In most states, whether someone who witnesses an act of child abuse has a legal responsibility to report the abuse to the authorities depends on that person's profession and/or relationship to the child. A doctor, a teacher, or a social worker is legally required to report, while a neighbor or a fellow shopper in a mall is not (though they may have a *moral* obligation to report the abuse). Because the journalist has no professional responsibility to the child, there may be no legal requirement to report the abuse to appropriate authorities. Still, it would have been the right thing to do.
Laurie at 10:14AM on Feb 22nd 2008
23. how much is this gonna cost. i know the criminal statute has run out but the civil one is the one that has the monetary penalty. how much to make this go away? i love the tort system. no penalty for bringing a suit. not that this was the only time in her life that she had those experiences. maybe best to make her parents pay--wait no deep pockets there.
skeptic in da south at 1:58PM on Feb 22nd 2008
24. I thought the statue of limitations was 7 years?
Alpha451 at 2:17PM on Feb 22nd 2008
25. WOW,how did this become ABCs fault? How about the step-father? Or her mother? What about her? At fifteen she certainly had the cognitive ability to report this herself. Another person trying to get their way into some easy money.
Sammie at 2:59PM on Feb 22nd 2008
26. This is the same mentality which allows a film crew to accompany terrorists killing American Soldiers. Dan Rather explained that as a reporter, it was not his job to "protect" soldiers, it was his job to report news. The concept was sick when CNN showed GIs getting shot, it is sick when ABC shows a young girl beaten. If you do not intervene, you are as responsible as the perpetrator. There should not be a statute of limitations on this type of crime.Lastly, ABC should not profit from their crime, this young lady should be allowed to sue them under the RICO statute and receive triple damages because they are profiting from a crime.
Marty at 3:18PM on Feb 22nd 2008
27. There is no legal requirement to intervene if you witness something that may be abuse. If someone witnesses me being punched out on the street and a passerby doesn't intervene should I then be able to sue the pedestrian. Americans that impose rules of morality on people not involved are oppressive.
taylor at 4:24PM on Feb 22nd 2008
28. What is this world comming to when adults dont have to report abuse just because they are reporters?! And to hold the child responsible to report this abuse when in all likelyhood the child is afraid of more abuse is insane! Anyone who has been abused as a child can tell you there is no excuse! You dont have to physically hit a child to parent them. Anyone who says you do, should try being abused themselves! Yes parents can get out of control when extremely angry, but that is when society should step in to help them learn how to parent correctly, and stop the abuse from happening again. Whether its once or a hundred times is irrelevent! Where are your morals people? We cant go around hitting adults just because we are angry at them, why should children be any different? Are we going back to the beliefs of the 1950s & 60s when children were the property of their parents?
mary at 4:39PM on Feb 22nd 2008
29. Hey, that's the Left-wing, drive-by media! They are "neutral"...
milakette at 4:57PM on Feb 22nd 2008
30. So there are among you some who state that the girl must not have been 'an innocent angel'. How DARE you! What the HELL do you know? Another veers off to a discussion about a 6 yr old flipping off his parents. What THIS has to do with a 15yr old girl being PUNCHED by a grown man with no one intervening, is beyond me. I was young, innocent, didn't speak back to my mother, did everything I could to conform to everything she demanded in her out of control rages, yet was abused routinely: verbally, emotionally and physically since I was 4, up until I escaped at 19, living in sheer terror for the next several years. It's torture. Unless you've Lived it, you can have no comprehension. So quit your pseudo-intellectual dissections of what this child should have done at the time! NOW she's an adult who knows what to do. Good for her! All any 'bystander' had to do was dial 911. How difficult would that have been? Nobody got involved to save me, and I was too terrified to tell anyone under threat of violent death. I'm so glad for those of you who live neat, happy little lives who have no idea this type of abuse exists. MYOB unless you have a clue!
Fedupwithchildabuse at 7:14PM on Feb 22nd 2008