Rape crisis workers have slammed radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O after a 14-year-old girl dragged onto their program by her mother revealed live on air she was raped.
NSW Rape Crisis Centre manager Karen Willis said the stunt — in which the girl was quizzed with a lie detector — was appalling on so many levels.
“I think the program clearly behaved unethically — that little girl had had so many adults let her down,” Ms Willis told ninemsn.
The teenager’s mother brought her onto the 2DayFM segment to be questioned about her drug use and whether she had been having sex after she ran away from home.
When asked if she had ever had sex, the girl said: "I've already told you the story about this ... and don't look at me and smile because it's not funny."
She then raised her voice, saying: "Oh okay ... I got raped when I was 12 years old."
There was silence for a few seconds before host Kyle Sandilands said: "Right ... is that the only experience you've had?"
Ms Willis said Sandilands' behaviour was abhorrent.
“What Kyle was doing was in effect equating rape with a sexual experience,” she said.
“He completely ignored that rape is a crime and here was a child who had been a victim of that crime.
“What they should have been doing was getting her off air as soon as possible and reporting it to DOCs.”
After Sandiland’s comment’s Jackie O went into damage control, saying she and her fellow host did not know about the girl's past.
"I think we might actually abort this segment," Jackie O said.
"That's something we probably should have known before we started," Sandilands said.
Jackie O continued, saying: "I had no idea you'd been through something like that so I'm really sorry and we'll just let you off the hook I think … I think it's best not to continue."
She asked if the girl was "all right" before offering her help from a counsellor.
The girl's mother said her daughter had only told her about the rape a month before and had not spoken to anyone about the rape.
"If you guys haven't had any counselling then we're happy to pick up the bill for that — we've got [counsellors] here," Sandilands said.
"That might answer some of the questions you guys are having difficulty communicating with."
Sandilands ended the interview, saying to the girl: "Thanks for coming in darl ... sorry about that."
A statement released by the radio hosts this afternoon said they "felt terrible" about the "turn of events".
"Had we known ahead of time, this segment would never have gone to air."
"Whilst we’re never usually lost for words, this morning we were shocked and dumbfounded by what we heard.”
2DayFM General Manager Jenny Parkes said the segment had been aborted as soon as possible.
"The moment we became aware of it was live on air and we shut it down as soon as we possibly could.
"As is only appropriate, we are offering all the assistance we can to the family, including counselling, in what is of course an extraordinarily difficult situation."
Veronica Wensing, executive officer of the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, criticised Sandilands for asking if the rape had been the girl's "only sexual experience".
"It automatically implies that the sexual assault was about her having a sexual experience, when in fact it was a violent event — not a sexual experience," Ms Wensing told ninemsn.
"It is someone exerting power and control over her."
Ms Wensing also questioned the mother's motives for quizzing her daughter on her sex life, despite knowing about the rape.
"Her trust has totally been breached — even asking that question is very irresponsible," she said.
"There is a risk this [girl] could be severely, adversely affected — on top of the rape — [and] you have to wonder what the mother's motivation was for [asking] that."
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