NY - Primetime video catches child abuse - doesn't report

Did anyone catch this last night? CNN or FOX news or some other all time news channel was reporting it.

Primetime videotaped "Problem Stepfamilies" and caught a stepfather who slapped and then punched his stepdaughter at least 5 times - totally out of control (looked abt. 15 years) and then stood over her screaming. Mom, of course, continued to sit on the couch - she might have flinched - not sure. I was just appalled...

Primetime is getting slammed b/c they didn't report it to authorities. Here's their statement - which basically says this was a one time incident.

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1884881

Sorry - but in my house, you could tape 24/7 for eternity and NEVER catch an incident like this. I can't believe Primetime is justifying it this way.

If you go here and look under "Recent Stories" there is video on Stepfamilies in Crisis.

Here's a link to the Primetime story - http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1865418&page=1

I will try to find the FOX news story link too.

Correction: It was this girl's FATHER, and stepmom was looking on. I jumped to a conclusion. The girl is now living with her maternal grandmother.

Here's Diane Sawyer talking about it - very casual again -

OLMES: You're talking about, for example, this couple and this family in Lake Placid where you have this daughter who I guess, there's all kinds of dynamics going on in terms of when she's close to her stepmother, I guess. And when she's not.

SAWYER: That's right. And the duel that gets set up and the screaming and the ferocity of their relationship.

COLMES: There's even a charge of abuse, physical abuse in that relationship.

SAWYER: Well, it's not a charge, you know. You look at it and everybody out there can make up their mind. But we have a scene of real hitting. We have screaming. And we have a girl who has had some real problems before. And our experts who look at this are — they're just gasping. They can't believe what they're seeing.


and later...


HANNITY: In this prime time special of yours, I want to go back to this incident of hitting of this one particular child. I only read about it. It seems particularly brutal to me.

SAWYER: Well, what happens, I believe, as in so many of these families, is that you have several issues. And you get out of control and angry. And then you get OK, and then the next time they come back and you're angrier and you're angrier.

And this is one that is just at the breakpoint. It has never been addressed. They have never figured out why they're doing this to each other. And why the anger is so out of proportion to what's going on in the room.

And again, we're not saying that there is not love there. This is not about not loving. This is about are we equipped to deal with rage? And we don't want to believe that you can have rage at children at this level. But wait until you see the tape and what they show us.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192598,00.html

I saw that program and was horrified by that household. The slapping scene was bad, but the stepmother's verbal and mental abuse was just as bad, in my opinion. I'm glad Kyle is out of that house now. She did a lot of the housework and played with and cared for her younger 'half' siblings. The stepmother thought she was just playing to the camera and was usurping her role as parent. Pretty much all I saw the stepmom do was smoke, sit around and spew verbal abuse at Kyle, not her 3 kids. It was so sad when dad & stepmom were upstairs yelling at Kyle (out of camera range) while the oldest of the 3 younger kids told her little brother (who was crying) to cover up his ears so he can't hear them yell. The middle sister then said the three needed to say "Hail Marys" and "Our Fathers" during the incident. Sad, sad, sad and disgusting. :furious:

I was sick to my stomach after I saw that. I felt so horrible for that girl. Thankfully, she's still at her grandparents house. The father picked that horrible pig of a wife over his daughter. Hopefully, the girl can rise above all that nonsense and turn out to be a wonderful, happy and successful woman.

SHALOM IN THE HOME the other night had a family that was damn near as bad, although it was mostly verbal abuse.

I'm sorry - I can't find a video link, and I apologize - I want people to make their own decision, but IMHO - that's clearly, clearly abuse. I have never been hit like that, or seen anyone hit like that in my life, except in a bar fight maybe.

I'm glad the girl is at her grandma's too - but what does that do to your psyche when your daddy chooses stepmom over you?

Hitting a child in any manner is destructive. I don't believe in spanking children for any reason, but what this father did was assault. My 11-year old daughter was watching with me and her mouth was on the ground. She and I were just in tears. That girl should have called the police.

Daughter Reacts to Report on Her Stepfamily

<SNIP>

"...."She appreciates all the support she has been receiving from viewers of the program. However, she wants everyone to know that she loves her father very much, that this unfortunate incident is not characteristic of their relationship and that she hopes that people will respect their privacy and not attack her father as they have been doing."...."

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1881227

MagicRose99 said:

Daughter Reacts to Report on Her Stepfamily

<SNIP>

"...."She appreciates all the support she has been receiving from viewers of the program. However, she wants everyone to know that she loves her father very much, that this unfortunate incident is not characteristic of their relationship and that she hopes that people will respect their privacy and not attack her father as they have been doing."...."

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1881227

Click to expand...

And IMHO, Primetime continues to spin and try to cover their *advertiser censored* on this.

Sorry - this girl's pain and humilation was used by Primetime - Diane Sawyer sold it on Hannity and Colmes, and now the girl is exploited more. Plus, if she protects her abuser, and no prosecutor decides to take this on, Primetime looks less culpable.

I believe in freedom of the press, and maybe the law can't (and shouldn't) hold Primetime responsible to report, but morally I think that someone should have reported this. And at the very least, this incident should not have been played up to sell the story, and then downplayed by Primetime after it aired.

What I do admire with Primetime is showing it in the first place, because for most people, child abuse is so shocking we can't even hardly concieve of it. I just don't support their actions after.

Two things really stand out to me ...

First off the girls maturity in responding about her father.
I don't think she is neccessarily playing for the media or defending her abuser.
Being that Prime TIme stood by and taped the segment and did nothing I wonder how much of it was just for show?
More along the lines of make believe TV news (IE: Jerry Springer) rather then a real news segment?

In any of it - Primetime not reporting to authorities, the girl's response, etc. all gives justification to the abuser father that it wasn't that big of a deal. IT WAS - and some charges would be a great idea to help him realize that.

However, I will admit I didn't see the whole show, I only saw the tape of the father beating the girl.

The show was absolutly heart-wrenching. I felt sooo soo ssoo bad for all the kids in this situation. The step"mother" was out of line the WHOLE time. The producers should have stepped in way earlier. I see negligence on their side.

Hmmm......if a reporter tapes a criminal act ........let's say a murder.......if they fail to intervene or call the police- wouldn't that have criminal charges attached to it? It does sometimes does when other people witness a criminal act and fail to report. Accessory or accessory after the fact comes to mind, though I am not sure of the criteria for those.

Exactly!

It's amazing how many people take it as "fact" just because it was shown on TV... it must all be true, right? Something to keep in mind... shows like this go for "impact" and / or ratings. They can twist words, show things out of sequence, instigate the outcome... in other words, what you see isn't always what happened.

While it's deplorable for a parent to punch a child ( I didn't see this show, so I'm going by what was said in this thread) and terrible that the show didn't report it, it should be dealt with properly. Maybe it was a one-time incident... maybe it happens frequently - It's not for us to decide what the "true" facts are regarding that situation and condemn. Its for the family and the counselor(s) (and authorities) to work out.

Amraann said:

Two things really stand out to me ...

First off the girls maturity in responding about her father.
I don't think she is neccessarily playing for the media or defending her abuser.
Being that Prime TIme stood by and taped the segment and did nothing I wonder how much of it was just for show?
More along the lines of make believe TV news (IE: Jerry Springer) rather then a real news segment?

Click to expand...

That father was clearly OUT OF CONTROL.
I have never even raised my voice to my step daughters, nor would I ever sit by and watch my husband lose it like that with any of our children.

I'm sorry, but its my opinion that there is no way to interpret assault. NO one should punch/slap, etc. another person, ESPECIALLY your child.

MagicRose99 said:

Exactly!

It's amazing how many people take it as "fact" just because it was shown on TV... it must all be true, right? Something to keep in mind... shows like this go for "impact" and / or ratings. They can twist words, show things out of sequence, instigate the outcome... in other words, what you see isn't always what happened.

While it's deplorable for a parent to punch a child ( I didn't see this show, so I'm going by what was said in this thread) and terrible that the show didn't report it, it should be dealt with properly. Maybe it was a one-time incident... maybe it happens frequently - It's not for us to decide what the "true" facts are regarding that situation and condemn. Its for the family and the counselor(s) (and authorities) to work out.

Click to expand...

That's why I really tried to find a link to watch the actual abuse - and have not been successful. So people could judge for themselves.

It is for others to work out - but IMHO - the dad should be charged. It was abuse under any definition, even if it's just one time or out-of-character or whatever. And Primetime shouldn't downplay it, and morally, should have reported it.

The FOX or CNN guy was asking what would have happened if this child had been injured or killed in the time between the taping of this incident and the airing. You know all of us on here would have been screaming for Primetime to be sued. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the law in this area to know how Primetime could be held responsible.

ljwf22 said:

I saw that program and was horrified by that household. The slapping scene was bad, but the stepmother's verbal and mental abuse was just as bad, in my opinion. I'm glad Kyle is out of that house now. She did a lot of the housework and played with and cared for her younger 'half' siblings. The stepmother thought she was just playing to the camera and was usurping her role as parent. Pretty much all I saw the stepmom do was smoke, sit around and spew verbal abuse at Kyle, not her 3 kids. It was so sad when dad & stepmom were upstairs yelling at Kyle (out of camera range) while the oldest of the 3 younger kids told her little brother (who was crying) to cover up his ears so he can't hear them yell. The middle sister then said the three needed to say "Hail Marys" and "Our Fathers" during the incident. Sad, sad, sad and disgusting. :furious:

Click to expand...

Yes, I watched the show too. Wasn't it horrible when he's slapping the heck out of her and the stepmother is sitting on the couch mimicking with her left and right hooks?? The woman is a head case.

I think she was simply jealous of the daughter. Typical really, she was worried he loved the daughter more. She was always tattling on the step daughter and I think she actually drove the father to do it. He exploded. I don't understand why he was so worried about losing his wife??

Since they can't file charges now because of the Statute of Limitations I think the best thing that came out of this was that the father and mother have now been exposed to North America.

Here's something if it works - http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=abc+primetime+beating&c=

Otherwise, go to Yahoo News! and search on abc primetime beating - it should pull up.

Apparently now the DA is saying it may be too late to prosecute Dad.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193012,00.html