The Editor's Desk

Readers who are following the trial of Robert Daniel Harrison, charged with kidnapping and assaulting a girl five years ago, may wonder about a paragraph we’re placing in all our stories:

“The Desert Dispatch normally does not identify the alleged victims of sexual crimes. When the girl was first reported missing, the Dispatch initially reported her identity and personal information in order to aid with the search. Once the circumstances of her kidnapping were made clear, the Dispatch stopped identifying the girl. In order to protect the victim, the names of involved family members will not be released.”

We have a policy of explaining why when we decline to identify individuals in our stories so that readers understand our reasoning. Most newspapers don’t identify victims of sex crimes because of the social stigma sometimes directed toward the victim.
But unfortunately, in this case, we already compromised the girl’s identity. When she was taken in 2002, the Desert Dispatch reported her name, unaware that she has been sexually assaulted. Once the details were uncovered, we immediately reverted to our policy of non-identification.
Unfortunately, this means, particularly in a community as small as Barstow, that many folks might know who she is. It’s a regrettable circumstance that we probably couldn’t have avoided, but we hope that the initial release of her identity has not caused her any additional suffering.