TMZ Identifies 14-Year-Old Alleged Sex Crime Victim

Source: Associated Press

TMZ identifies 14-year-old alleged sex crime victim
2008-04-30 21:00:35
By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Breaking with standards widely followed by the mainstream news media, the celebrity Web site TMZ posted a story Wednesday about a 14-year-old who's a movie star's son and an alleged sex crime victim, and it ran the boy's picture.

The story said the boy was in a relationship with a 22-year-old woman, whose ex-boyfriend tipped off police that she was having sex with a minor. Police have opened an investigation, the story said.

Almost all news organizations refrain from identifying sex crime victims, let alone show their picture, because of the stigma often attached to it, said Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the journalism think tank Poynter Institute. The Associated Press' policy is not to identify people in such cases. "The reason the story is even interesting to TMZ is because of who the child is," McBride said. "I'm not sure that alone is enough to justify" identifying the boy.

Harvey Levin, managing editor of TMZ, refused to speak about the decision to run the story. "The story speaks for itself," he said through a spokeswoman.

Read more: http://myembarq.com/news/news_reader.php?storyid=16019409&feedid=241

They cover the "movie stars" and the TV stars, pretty much in and around a thirty mile zone of Hollywood.

It's not like Faux, they don't do politics, unless a politician is screwing a movie star!

And on edit, based on who the movie star is, I'm not surprised that his kid is, er, "precocious:"

http://www.tmz.com/2008/04/30/billy-bobs-son-alleged-sex-crime-victim/

Sad that one of the Young Turks hosts opted to head there, for the cash.

Many people do think the noys are to be treated as lucky and the girls treated as victims

If I remember correctly, early rape laws were enacted to protect women's value as potential wives. Therefore the crime wasn't really against the woman, it was against the father or husband whose "property" had been damaged. (Look how "damaged" Miley Cyrus's reputation is over a few photos, and how pissed Disney is about it.) And although times have changed an awful lot, still a boys' reputation isn't as damaged by early sexual activity or statutory rape as a young woman's. (Unless the contact is same-sex, in which case it's still taboo and reputation-damaging.)

......22 yo hot blond teacher, no big deal. Where as, young girl and 22 yo hot blond MALE teacher, big jail time deal. The "double standard" is still out there, although as you said it's gotten somewhat better.

When a woman tells her friends she's met a new guy the usual response from her friends is "What does he do?"

When a guy tells his friends he has a new gal, the first response is usually, "What does she look like?"

That I have gone the whole day without knowing this.

I am so, so deprived. Cut off from the things that truly matter. :sob:

I'm not saying they were right to do it, but I think the issue is that the victim is male rather than "celebrity son." As a society we generally don't perceive men (in cases like this) to be real victims. "What 14 year old boy doesn't want sex? And he got it on with a 22 year old? Good for him." The fact that he is a celebrity's son only accounts for this story making it to TMZ, not that his identity was revealed. If it was the 14 year old daughter of a celebrity, it would not have been handled in the same way. I recall similar issues with the "male" victims in some of the teacher/student sex scandals. My point is not that it wasn't wrong, but rather the reason for it needs to be looked at more closely.

TMZ should be sued for this.

I fully agree.

attached to the teenage boy in a situation such as this one.
A teenage boy and a 22 year old woman?
What stigma?

They like to sit around and talk about how ugly this celebrity or that celebrity is when they look like something that crawled out from under a rock themselves. I cannot stand them. Who the fuck do they think they are? That's my question.