Radio show back after rape furore

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O host the breakfast radio show

An Australian radio show on which a teenager revealed she had been raped has returned to the airwaves.

DJs Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O'Neil resumed their breakfast show with an apology, saying the segment had been a "disaster from start to finish".

It featured a 14-year-old strapped to a lie detector and quizzed about her sexual history by her mother. She said she had been raped as a 12-year-old.

Some sections of the show will now be pre-recorded, broadcaster 2Day FM said.

The programme will also be subject to a seven second delay, allowing producers to cut away from any offensive or inappropriate material.

'Distressed'

The DJs had been off the air since 3 August, shortly after the original segment aired.

The teenage girl was strapped to a polygraph machine as her mother - who had volunteered to be on air - quizzed her, despite her daughter's claims that she had already been told about an assault two years earlier.

Sandilands was accused of further insensitivity when, after the revelation, he asked: "Right, and is that the only sexual experience you've had?"

Co-host O'Neil put an end to any further discussions when she realised the conversation had crossed a line.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd led criticism of the show, saying: "This is a young girl and I am, as I think most Australians are, really distressed at the way in which the young person has been treated."

As the show resumed on Tuesday morning, Sandilands said it was "pretty much obvious to everyone" that the episode had been "a complete disaster".

He stressed that the radio station had had no idea the teenager would make the disclosure before she went on air, adding: "We do sincerely apologise to the family once again and to any listeners we offended."

"I think everyone on the show has learned from this mistake and we're sincerely sorry and we've put everything in place now that we're confident it won't happen again," said O'Neil.

Police dropped an investigation into the girl's rape claims after she told them she did not want the matter pursued.

Australia's media regulator has launched an investigation into whether the radio show had breached broadcasting guidelines.