Some stories remind us of what’s important

In my time here at WBTW, I never thought a story about a nanny cam and a child abuse case would ever generate so much conversation. I guess it just goes to show what people care about. When we broke the story about a Murrells Inlet nanny being charged with child abuse and child neglect, I thought it would be a run-of-the-mill news story, that's until I learned the details of the case and sat down to listen to a father describe the most horrific thing I believe he's ever seen.

Wesley Locklair contacted our news room Thursday with a story about catching his nanny on a hidden camera abusing his 5-month-old daughter. I contacted Wesley as soon as I got his message and sat him down for an interview to hear his story. Not having any children of my own, I really didn't know what to expect from him. I really didn't really know what to ask, outside of the facts of the case as he knew them, and the facts in the police report. The real story came from outside the facts.

I had a man sitting down to talk about something very personal and very private, and getting emotional with me- a perfect stranger to Wesley Locklair. Wesley wanted to get his story out to other parents, because he said he wanted people to become aware that this could happen to anyone, anywhere. As he started telling his story to me, it was clear that this guy was scared to death and thankful that he had a daughter to go home to. Wesley started telling me about how he blamed himself for what happened to his daughter; that seemed to bother him more than anything. To me, he seemed angrier at himself because in his mind, he let his family down. He talked about not being able to get what he saw on that tape out of his mind and how he and his wife were getting counseling to help them understand what happened.

As I started piecing this story together, it was clear to me that this wasn't just another story. I posted a web article early in the day and before I could start on my stories for the newscasts, people were emailing me and posting comments to the web story, not even an hour after I posted it. Out of the hundreds of stories I've posted and told on News13, this was the biggest one yet if you classify stories by the amount of response. People from as far away as California and Alaska have written me and posted comments to the web article; I realized then just how serious people take crimes against children.

In reporting news, it's my number one job to be fair. It's the one thing professors teach you in journalism school. After all, fairness is the foundation of journalism, you can't pick sides. I spent hours; following the suspect in this case's bond hearing, trying to talk to someone from her family, or someone who knows her. I spent my day off Saturday trying to track the suspect down to offer her an interview; because that's the one thing we owe people charged in a crime. There's always two sides to every story, and I tried to make it my goal to get her side. I talked to the suspect's husband Saturday and he turned me down for comment, which was completely fine. At least I know that we tried everything in our power to make the effort to be fair.

Now, looking back at our coverage of this case, a story I thought would get a few people riled up has turned into a nationwide support group for a family, and for families like the Locklairs across the country who have experienced what they've gone through. We haven't seen the tape, but you can tell by talking to these people there was something on that tape they saw that scared the hell out of them. The point of this is, just when you think you know what kind of stories people care about, you don't. Well, at least I didn't. But boy, I sure do now.

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