Update: Federal suit accuses Southern Colorado television station of sexual exploitation of a child
A federal lawsuit filed against Southern Colorado NBC affiliate KOAA-TV claims that the station broadcasted an image of a teenage boy’s penis in a 2014 news report.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 is not reporting the name of the boy or his family because he is a minor.
The suit, which was filed on January 29, 2016, names the station, its parent companies Cordillera Communications and Evening Post Industries, NBC Universal, Comcast and several KOAA employees.
According to the lawsuit, reporter Matthew Prichard was sent to the boy’s home after his family contacted the station with a news tip about an attempt to blackmail him. It says someone tried to blackmail the boy by posting a video on YouTube that contained sexually explicit images.
The lawsuit goes on to say that the report aired at 5 p.m. on February 24, 2014 and included an image of the YouTube video that showed the boy’s penis with his name above it in the video title. It also says that unedited images of the boy’s Facebook page were included in the report.
According to the suit, the boy’s family asked that his name be kept confidential before agreeing to the interview. It says that in addition to being broadcasted locally, the images were shown on national television and online.
The KOAA employees named in the suit include Prichard as well as news anchor Lisa Lyden and News Director Kelly Duffy.
The suit seeks damages in excess of $1,000,000 for twelve claims, including sexual exploitation of children, invasion of privacy, negligence, defamation and civil conspiracy.
KOAA General Manager Evan Pappas released the following statement about the suit:
“Through a series of stories during the last several years, KOAA has informed its viewers about the dangers of sexting and cell phone security. At the specific request of the victim’s father, we ran a story two years ago about his son being blackmailed over a cell phone video.While we are unable to discuss the specifics of this recently filed litigation, we will defend ourselves against unfounded accusations.”
Click the link under “related content” to read the lawsuit in its entirety.
