This one is hard to read. And harder to accept.

A New York nurse was caught on camera beating a crying, disabled five year old boy, yet police did not make an arrest until the footage was aired by local media. The suspect, 31 year old Bruno Valenzuela, was taken into custody only after News 12 Long Island broadcast the video.

The child’s father, Christopher Brower, says the delay is unacceptable. Brower is an NYPD detective with hundreds of arrests under his belt. He says investigators told him they needed a doctor’s signature stating that slamming his son’s chest was “not medically necessary.”

“You have the whole thing on tape and you’re telling me you need a doctor to tell you that beating and choking my son isn’t medically necessary?” Brower said.

According to Brower, a detective in the Special Victims Unit also refused to speed up the process because he was about to go on vacation. Brower says it felt like no one was in a hurry to protect his child.

“It was like they couldn’t be bothered,” he said. “I’m embarrassed to say we’re in the same line of work.”

This was not a gray area. This was not a misunderstanding. This was a vulnerable child with developmental disabilities being assaulted by someone entrusted with his care, captured on video.

For anyone who has ever worked with individuals with developmental disabilities, this hits deep. These families trust the system with their most precious loved ones. When that trust is broken, the response should be swift and decisive. Instead, it took public outrage and media pressure to get action.

From a moral and common sense standpoint, this is a failure. Law enforcement should never need a television broadcast to do the right thing, especially when a defenseless child is involved.

Scripture is clear about protecting the least among us. Justice delayed is justice denied. And no badge, title, or bureaucracy should ever stand between an abused child and accountability.

I once heard the phrase that mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the victim and I cannot agree more. This case should outrage every parent. And it should force serious answers about why doing the right thing required a spotlight.