The mother of slain schoolboy Luke Batty has broken down on live television and launched an extraordinary attack on Network Ten's Studio 10 co-host Joe Hildebrand.
Rosie Batty, whose 11-year-old son was killed by his father Greg Anderson in February, blasted Hildebrand for saying women have no excuse for remaining in an abusive relationship when their partner has sexually abused their child.
Hildebrand's comments had been made during an earlier panel discussion about new Victorian laws that make it a crime not to report cases of child sex abuse to police.
"Anything is better than staying in an abusive relationship," Hildebrand said.
"To say that you're going to not report a case of child sex abuse by your partner because you are scared for your own safety, I'm sorry, it is not an excuse."
When Batty came on air she fought back tears as she told Hildebrand his comments were misguided.
"I am absolutely outraged," she said. "I was living in hope that because of Luke's tragic death it would bring a huge awareness to family violence.
"This is beyond my comprehension how, again, the woman who is the victim is punished."
A few hours after the broadcast, Hildebrand issued a statement saying his comments had been misrepresented and misunderstood.
"For the record I do not support the jailing of domestic violence victims who fail to report child sex abuse, and never said that I did," the statement said.
"What I did say was that the safety of a child must be paramount in considering these issues.
"If a child is being sexually abused then I strongly feel it is the responsibility of all those who are aware of it to report it.
"I also said that to allow a child to be continually exposed to sexual abuse is, frankly, inexcusable. I stand by this completely."
In the interview, Batty also revealed the details of the violence she had suffered at the hands of her estranged husband Anderson, who killed their son with a cricket bat on February 12.
"Greg had finally lost control of me and the final act of control, which was the most hideous form of violence, was to kill my son," she said.
"So don't you ever think that if we don't report it's because we don't want to. It's because we are so scared about what might happen.
"Joe needs to look at his views as a man and needs to step up and get informed."
Hildebrand remained largely silent as Batty spoke. Her comments prompted applause from the studio audience.
At one point Hildebrand defended his opinion, saying he believed the laws would actually help to protect women, but she cut him off.
Afterwards, Studio 10 tweeted their thanks to Batty for her "grace and her passion" during the interview.
