The call has been issued for Diane Sawyers resignation over a Primetime special that aired last Friday.  This is a case that illustrates the cold hearted callous disregard for people that the news sometimes exhibits in order to get a "good story."  And their actions have ensured a child abuser gets to go unpunished.

During the filming of a story on dysfunctional step families, ABC cameras caught a beating of a teenage girl by her father on video tape…and did nothing about it….for 4 years

Calls for Sawyer to Resign After Teen Beating Report

The shocking beating of a teenage girl by her father that aired during a Diane Sawyer report about dysfunctional stepfamilies has set off a firestorm.

State police officials in upstate Lake Placid say they are going over the tape of last Friday’s "Primetime" news magazine to determine if charges can be brought against the natural father, a Iraq War military reservist, and the teen’s stepmother.

The investigation — which includes the local Franklin County DAs office, police said — was only part of the fallout from the broadcast.

Outraged viewers have filled up the ABC News Web site’s message board with more that 1,400 messages in the first 36 hours after the broadcast — many calling for Sawyer and the program’s producers to be fired for not going to the authorities immediately.

The beating was caught on videotape recorders that the family — identified as Lynn and Joe Nelson — had allowed ABC News to install in their home for a program on the difficulties stepfamilies have getting along.

This is sickening.  They taped it, saw it and just decided not to do anything about it.  They could have called social services, or the police, but didn’t. 

Are your ratings so much more important then a child’s pain?  Was it worth it to the girl?  Did you pay perhaps her by the bruise?  Or were you secretly hoping for a broken bone maybe?  A little more screaming and blood perhaps?  "Grimace for the camera sweetheart, and make sure the fear looks real….and ACTION!"

WTF.

So let’s talk about the guy who did it.  So will he be punished?  Will the bastard get charged?  No.

DA: Too Late for Charges in ‘Primetime’ Beating Case

NEW YORK — ABC’s failure to contact authorities about a father beating his teenage daughter before airing it on "Primetime" last week prevented any criminal prosecution in the case, the prosecutor who could have pursued those charges said on Tuesday.

…

Because the beating took place in December 2002, Champagne said he’s prevented by the statute of limitations from prosecuting the case. ABC News gambled by not allowing professionals to assess the family’s situation, he said.

Thanks ABC!!  Score one for the media versus justice.

The abuse was more then a simple spanking by the way:

On Friday night it aired tape of an argument during which Kyle’s father, Joe, lunged at her, slapped her, then punched her five times while kneeling atop her.

So knowing it was being taped he did this anyway?  Is he stupid or just that bold?

And God knows what could have happened in the mean time.  What if he had snapped and killed her?

"It is clear that intervention from 2002 through to the present could have benefited everyone in the Nelson family," he said. "It is fortunate that while the aired tape was sitting on an editing shelf, further tragedy did not occur."

ABC News said there was no other such incident in more than 1,000 hours of tape it had collected on the Nelson family. The family included Joe, a correctional officer and military reservist who has served in Iraq since the taping, Kyle’s stepmother and three younger children. Joe and the stepmother both acknowledged on tape they had struck Kyle on other occasions.

The most disgusting thing is that ABC is defending their disregard:

"I don’t think we did the wrong thing," said David Sloan, executive producer of "Primetime." "We spent a long time on this. We consulted experts. We looked at it ourselves, and looked at the totality of the circumstances and we didn’t see anything egregious."

None of the experts consulted by ABC News recommended contacting outside authorities, Sloan said.

But other experts disagree:

"I think it should have been reported," said Jim Hmurovich, president of Prevent Child Abuse America, a Washington-based organization. "They had some evidence that some potential child abuse was going on. I don’t think the law gives common lay people, so to speak, the ability and discretion to decide what is child abuse and what is not."

Indeed.  While they may not be a mandated reporter, I cannot see how they could not intervene.

But they don’t mind, it’s all for a good story right?  And this one has a bonus:  They are getting double ratings on it.

The girl, Kyle Nelson, appeared on "Good Morning America" Tuesday to say she had forgiven her father for the incident. But she asked the network not to run tape of the beating again and ABC News agreed.

…

Kyle Nelson, now 18, appeared with her mother and maternal grandmother on "Good Morning America." She moved in with her grandmother soon after the incident caught on tape.

Thank God for that.   So they can score on Primetime, then cheese the ratings on their morning show about the controversy they created.  Sick.

Otherwise the episode would have been "when families kill",  Film at 11.