Editorial: Helping the victim

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

Nye County authorities received a horrifying video last month that showed a 3-year-old girl being raped. To find the girl, authorities broke from their normal practices and released the victim's first name and photo - a haunting image of the child taken off the video.

Media stories quickly followed, accompanied by the picture, and the girl was found Friday, four days after the information was released. The girl, now 7, was found living safely with her mother, who, authorities said, had no idea of the previous abuse. Police in Nye and Clark counties have been able to build a case against the suspects, something they wouldn't have been able to do if they hadn't released that information.

Still, officials and the media that used the information have opened themselves to criticism. Police normally do not give out information on sex crime victims, especially when they are children, and most media will not use victims' names and pictures because of the societal stigma that wrongly tars the victims of such crimes.

However, authorities were correct to break convention and release the information, which the media responsibly used, stopping when the girl was found. The girl's safety was the top priority, and not knowing who she was or where she was, authorities acted appropriately to find her. Instead of facing criticism, they should be commended.