Police and the family are asking media to cease publishing the name and picture of the five year old victim who was taken in Palmerston North on Friday.
We ask media to exercise appropriate judgement and afford her anonymity from now, to prevent further victimisation to her and her family.
The girl’s details were issued by police on Friday as part of carefully considered decisions taken about the steps needed to locate her.
Police has not referred to her name or any identifying details since she was located, and we respectfully ask media to do the same.
While we appreciate her identity is in the public domain, Police do not accept there is any public interest in further reference to her identity being publicised.
A key priority for the police, as it should be for the media and wider community, is to ensure that this vulnerable young victim is afforded all steps needed to assist in her recovery from this traumatic event.
Your cooperation in this would be greatly appreciated.
We also draw media’s attention to the Privacy Principles of the BSA – specifically Principle 6:
“Children’s vulnerability must be a prime concern to broadcasters, even when informed consent has been obtained. Where a broadcast breaches a child’s privacy, broadcasters shall satisfy themselves that the broadcast is in the child’s best interests, regardless of whether consent has been obtained.”
ENDS
Media note: A brief update on the investigation will be released shortly.