Teen sues TV station for $1M over unauthorized broadcast of his genitals

A South Carolina teenager has sued a Colorado television station over allegations the station broadcasted a picture of his erect penis taken from a cell phone video uploaded to YouTube.

The case, known as Holden v. KOAA, asks for $1 million in damages and accuses the station, its reporter, its affiliate companies (NBC and Comcast), and other defendants of violating federal child pornography laws, invasion of privacy and negligence, and other allegations.

According to the lawsuit, the teen was 14 years old and living in Colorado at the time of the incident. (The incident occurred two years ago, but Ars will not name the individual as he is still a minor.) The cell phone video had been taken of the teen and put online as a way to blackmail him. His father’s girlfriend, Heather Richardson, soon contacted the KOAA TV station to let them know about the situation. KOAA sent a local reporter, Matthew Prichard, to the family’s home in Pueblo, Colorado, where Prichard interviewed the boy and filmed the offending material. The suit claims that the boy’s father specifically told Prichard to keep his son’s name out of the report.

Prichard’s story aired February 24, 2014 and was posted online. As per the civil complaint, the story showed a "collected thumbnail image of the YouTube video" which "depicted Plaintiff’s erect penis" and showed his name "directly above."

Ars has been unable to locate the offending footage, and it's not clear why the suit comes two years after the incident.

"I am not authorized to say anything in that matter," the boy's attorney Matthew Schneider told Ars by phone on Friday.

Evan Pappas, the president of KOAA, told Ars that the station has run many stories 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," Pappas wrote in an e-mailed statement. "While we are unable to discuss the specifics of this recently filed litigation, we will defend ourselves against unfounded accusations."

When Ars asked specifically which accusation in the suit was "unfounded," Pappas refused to clarify. "As much as we desire to be transparent, this is now pending litigation and cannot comment with any further details then what I have already provided."

The KOAA reporter, Prichard, did not respond to a request for comment.