Some No Longer Using Rodriguez's Name

More than 1,000 news stories appear in a Google search related to the flight to Mexico by Lexington teacher Kelsey Peterson and the 13-year-old boy, Fernando Rodriguez, she once taught.

Rodriguez's picture even moved on The Associated Press wire when he and Peterson first disappeared last week.

But now, The Associated Press and at least one local TV station, KETV-7, are no longer using Rodriguez's name, citing sexual abuse allegations in connection with Peterson's arrest. The change first came to light Tuesday when AP editors ordered Rodriguez's name be struck from subsequent stories, saying the most recent charges allege he was the victim of a sex crime.

In a report Wednesday night at 5, KETV reporter Farrah Fazal referred to Rodriguez as "the boy." However, stories archived on the station's website, KETV.com, still include Rodriguez's name.

The AP first used Rodriguez's name in its initial stories, explaining that wire service "generally does not identify people who may be victims of sex crimes, but the boy’s name had been widely publicized as police searched for him."

More of the Name Game
Some Omaha news media outlets are naming the woman suspected of writing bad checks under an assumed name to cover cash taken from the Douglas County Treasurer's Office. The Omaha World-Herald is not, citing its policy of not identifying someone who is not yet charged with committing a crime.