BATON ROUGE - WBRZ was honored by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters on Friday for outstanding investigative reporting and the station's charitable contributions to the Greater Baton Rouge community.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit was awarded for a series of stories uncovering the legal battle between a woman who was raped at age 16 and later ordered by a judge to pay child support to the man who committed the crime. The story garnered international attention and was the focus of a behind-the-scenes TV special that debuted on WBRZ Plus, Channel 2's always-on streaming platform. 

"The WBRZ Investigative Unit's relentless reporting empowers the public with knowledge about corruption happening in their community. I'm so proud of our team-- photojournalist Joe McCoy and our producer Erin McWilliams," Chief Investigator Chris Nakamoto said. "We are grateful for the Manship family which owns WBRZ and all of the managers who remain committed to hard-hitting journalism by supporting our work."

WBRZ was additionally honored with LAB's Community Service award. The station raised more than $1 million for charities over the past year through programs like Pat's Coats for Kids, Sylvia's Toys for Christmas, Brandi's Book Drive and the St. Jude Dream Home giveaway. 

Recently retired WBRZ Station Manager Rocky Daboval was also named Television Broadcaster of the Year.