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Washington police investigating after disturbing image appears during newscast

news control room
Posted at 3:03 PM, Oct 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-20 15:04:49-04

Authorities in Washington State said that they are investigating after they received several complaints about a disturbing image that appeared during a weather forecast on a local news station Sunday evening.

In a statement, the Spokane Police Department said at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time Sunday, they received several calls about "a pornographic or explicit image" appearing on TVs during a local news station's weather forecast.

"It was a short video segment, generally described as a small portion of the screen, showing a separate image from the newscast of what appeared to be a possibly pornographic or explicit image," the department said. "Estimates were the image/video lasted about 10 seconds."

According to the Miami Herald, the disturbing image appeared over the left shoulder while a KREM meteorologist gave her initial report.

Police said they responded to the TV station and are investigating how the image appeared on TV screens.

The Spokesman-Review reported that the station had issued an apology.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing, the TV station is cooperating with police, and "no culpability of any kind has been determined."