Lawsuit between local woman, ABC News settled

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March 25, 2009

<a href="mailto:kdedam@pressrepublican.com">By KIM SMITH DEDAM</a> The Press Republican Wed Mar 25, 2009, 04:56 PM EDT

LAKE PLACID — A lawsuit brought by a Saranac Lake woman against ABC News over a “Primetime” episode has been settled out of court.

The case filed in Essex County Court in February last year against ABC News Inc. and its parent company, Walt Disney Corp., claimed recklessness and negligence after Kyle Nelson, who is now 21, was filmed being held down and punched by her stepfather, Joe Nelson.

Filming was done with remote video cameras placed in the Nelsons’ Vermontville home in late 2002 and early 2003, when Miss Nelson was 15 years old.

Footage from the beating and berating aired in a 2006 “Primetime” segment called “Stepfamilies in Crisis.”

Miss Nelson’s claim sought punitive damages, payment for her counseling and an injunction against ABC demanding the segment not ever be shown again.

“Primetime” anchor Diane Sawyer, Producer David Sloan, News Division chief David Westin, Mr. Nelson and three psychologists hired to advise the production were also named in the lawsuit.

Miss Nelson’s attorney, Matthew Norfolk of Lake Placid firm Briggs Norfolk, has said his client suffered enduring effects from the abuse and the news program airing it, claiming ABC News could have intervened, stopped the child abuse and sought counseling for his client.

ABC News sought to dismiss the case, mounting a defense based on freedom of speech, but Supreme Court Judge James Dawson denied several of the media giant’s motions in December last year.

Norfolk said Wednesday that “the matter has been resolved amicably and to the satisfaction of all parties.”

He would not specify terms of the agreement or the amount of damages involved in the settlement.

Jeffrey Schneider, vice president of media relations for ABC News in New York, offered no further comment on the agreement.

“It is safe to say it has been settled amicably on both sides,” he said.

Schneider would not say whether the agreement allows the media company further use of the Nelson footage, which was a claim brought by Miss Nelson in the lawsuit.

“It has been settled amicably on both sides,” he repeated.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:

kdedam@pressrepublican.com