Media must protect young victims of abuse

"my view" Thomas S. Rue The Times Herald Record February 13, 1993

As a professional family counselor and a journalist, The Record's seemingly inconsistent policy of identifying child victims of sexual abuse has caught my attention and sometimes raised particular concern for the emotional effects such publication may have on children who are written about.

The media play an important role in covering Family Court cases, in order to provide readers information with which to make informed opinions about laws and public policies designed to protect the welfare of children. Without doubt, real stories, which include creditble detail and balanced assertions, communicate complicated matters far better than theoretical discussion.

Allegations of sexual abuse and custodial interferencein the name of safety are examples of the types of cases which fall along the uncertain edge of family protection law, in the minds of many.

The level of attention given by The Record to such cases, I think, has generally been within appropriate limits. However, I question the need to identify victims, even to the point of printing children's names as sometimes occurs.

To illustrate, I will cite a few cases which you have reported, but will refrain from identifying the children involved, even where they have already been named in print.

In December 1992, an Orange County Family Court judge was "jerred" in an editorial because he supposedly did not look hard enough to find someone to supervise a holiday visit between an 11-year-old and her mother (Whether this was rightly the judge's responsibilyt or that of a service provider, or what underlying concerns the court may have had, are not questions which space permite me to address.) The girl has been in foster care since being returned from a San Diego shelter where she and her mother fled after the girl alleged sexual molestation by her father. News accounts have identified this girl by name more than once.

The account of this real-life family drama presents conflict between public and private efforts to protect a child from alleged paternal abuse. That the father denies the sexual charges, has apparently never been found guilty , and reports spending large sums to locate and return his child from hiding, must rend the hearts of readers who identify with the plight of the child or either parent. A pending Family Court trial is reportedly adjourned to the end of March.

The story seems newsworthy not su much for its inherent drama, but because it points out the absence of a "necessity" defense under New York law, compared to California where a jury last year (on a different case) found a mother not guilty of hiding her daughter from the father whom the child claimed molested her. In a democracy, a free press provides the populace with necessary information to create or amend laws. This is good, solid reporting.

But is it necessary or helpful to identify the young victim in order to serve this purpose? Even if the writer secured the girl's permission before using her name, I would question the capacity of most 12-year-olds to render a truly informed consent to this type of disclosure.

What might the impact of being publicly labeled an "incest victim" have on future romantic or other relationships? How will current friends (or friends' parents) handle the information? Incest is an explosive topic. Children often do not have the experience to predict how others may react. There are some types of information to which it would seem that no one, outside of immediate family members or helping professionals, has any right. Is it really necessary for the media to broadcast identities of those who have been hurt to the world?

In June 1991, The Record reported that a Middletown man, whose name was given, had pled guilty in Sullivan County Court to "raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing two Wurtsboro girls." While the children were not named, their aces were given, as well as the name of the small trailer park in which they resided and where the assaults occurred. It is safe to say neighbors and acquaintances were most likely aware of the girls' identities. Whether the children received feedback from neighbors or others about this, or how they felt about it, I cannot say. But a moment of empathic reflection should give some sense.

More recently, a story entitled "Father Comes To Rescue: Custody Fight Centers on School's Discipline" (Jan. 26) tells of a fight between divorced parents over a 15-year-old daughter in a residential school in Indiana. In the article, family surnames are withheld "...because the girl is a victim of sexual abuse and the abuse could play a role in the custody hearing. Her stepfather pleaded guilty and is serving a prison sentence."

For a variety of reasons, this case appears to be unusual to warrant public attention. The Record also appears to have been more careful about concealing identities than in other cases, using only first names. This seems like a fair compromise in this instance, but might not be sufficient in others.

Balancing the public interest against individual rights to privacy is among the more difficult tasks of a conscientious newspaper editor. In the rush to get a story to print, there may be times that are factors are not fully weighed.

Children live in the present. To have been violated once is bad enough. It is difficult, even for adults, to comprehend how making such facts public now might impact one's life in future years. If a child chooses to seek out a trusted relative, friend or professional to discuss the matter, that is fine and healthy. But it seems disempowering for others to make that disclosure for them.

We wish people would not blame victims or label them "damaged goods," but it occurs. Until society changes, and is able to view childhood innocence and moral virginity as unaffected by infliction of adult abuse, the media should do its utmost not to worsen private family travails by unnecessary revelations. Some things are just plain nobody else's business.

Thomas S. Rue is a board-certified counselor who lives and practices in Monticello, specializing in family and adolescent development. He is also a contributing editor for The River Reporter, a weekly newspaper published in Narrowsburg, and has had articles published in national periodicals.

03-24-1998