Sharing images of underage kidnap victims with the press

Nov 27, 2011 13:59

I'm not entirely sure how to look for this ( Read more... )

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elena23 November 27 2011, 13:37:12 UTC
They would do everything possible to avoid putting their pictures on the air ( ... )

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liliaeth November 27 2011, 13:56:33 UTC
Thank you, that's good to know. (and at least I know it in time to change things ( ... )

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elena23 November 27 2011, 15:29:27 UTC
I don't really see a solution for your felon father and sibling to find them. Even if he got the somehow got the information about the childrens' names or photographs (keep in mind that the name of child victims is not public record and is redacted from police reports), how would he then get the information of where they are being held? They would be in State custody, or a foster home, or in a hospital with constant supervision, and those locations wouldn't be known either.

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liliaeth November 27 2011, 16:09:03 UTC
Knew I should have just stuck with the vigilante attack and getting his son back option ;-)

I just figured that it'd be better and fairer for all the victims, to have the cops be the heroes of the story who save not just the main character, but his fellow captives as well. At least it gives them a chance to get medical help and get back to their families.

Hmm, thinking there will have to be some more breaking of the law involved for John to get Dean back. How closely do you think that any visitor would be checked?

The father has a habit of impersonating federal agents, so he'd probably be able to find information and get in that way.

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twistedsheets10 November 27 2011, 14:27:10 UTC
Not a cop, but a journalist/media person, on the point of sharing pictures of underage persons.

In my experience, showing off images of minors, especially if they are victims, in the press or media is usually NOT done, unless there is permission from the guardians/parents or higher authorities (and this is usually only if they have run out of options in identifying them). Usually a description of the children would suffice. It's sort of a taboo to show their images/pictures/videos of them.

ETA: By showing off, I mean, putting pictures of them in papers, TV, etc.

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liliaeth November 27 2011, 15:03:58 UTC
thank you, hmm, trying to think how the media would deal with the situation then.

Just figure there'd be a lot of media attention, esp. since the kidnapper is a well known figure.

If the father of one of the victims gave his permission, would they interview a 15 year old? The girl in question is the only one of the victims taken recently enough that she hadn't yet suffered most of the mental damages that the other victims are suffering from, since the kidnapper didn't have her long enough to start working on her.

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elena23 November 27 2011, 15:26:40 UTC
The police would interview the victim, but the media would definitely not. This would prejudice the case against the alleged kidnapper and put the entire case in jeopardy. The prosecution can't technically stop the interview of a victim, but given that it has the potential to put the child in danger and risk the successful prosecution of the case, they could arrest the father for obstruction just for allowing it.

Most likely they would wait until the kids are as healthy as they can be -- even older teenagers are pretty resilient, and once the drugs are out of their system that will improve matters -- and then conduct forensic interviews on them, or use a licensed psychologist to attempt to recover information. There are many techniques that can be used in that sort of situation.

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liliaeth November 27 2011, 16:12:32 UTC
thanks, will have to scratch the interview then. better to know now, before I pull someone out of the story, by having too many things happen that would never be allowed in real life.
(there's after all a limit to people's will to suspend disbelief. )

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liliaeth November 27 2011, 19:21:51 UTC
good to know, so at least some of the kids might have had their fingerprints taken. Not the main char unfortunately, since his father's a paranoid survivalist who would have raised his sons not to trust any form of law enforcement.

This paranoia might also cause trouble with checking up medical and dental records, because the father would have either used fake insurance for his sons for any visit to a hospital or dentist, well that or unlicensed backroom doctors who wouldn't be inclined to inform the police in the case of gunshot or other such injuries.

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