Police will not charge the father who said he wished he’d tied a rope around his daughter’s boyfriend’s neck and dragged him behind his car.

It was one week ago that Gilberto Soto, 38, of Weare, appeared on ABC’s “20/20” and said he wished he’d done more than beat up then-17-year-old Damon Hadley after learning the boy had sex with his underage daughter.

Soto told the “20/20” interviewer: “So I hit him. Do I regret what I did? No. Would I do it differently? Yes, I would, I would. Now? Take that kid, stick him in the car, tie a rope around his neck and go as fast as I could up and down the highways, every single highway there is.”

His daughter was 15-and-a-half years old, six months shy of the state’s legal age of consent.

“We will not be going forward on any charges,” said Detective Lou Chatel. “The law wasn’t broken.”

Earlier last week, after Hadley’s lawyer requested Soto be charged for criminal threatening based on his television comments, Soto explained he was no threat to the boy.

“My comment on “20/20” was what I would do differently. Damon and young men like Damon need to understand that these young girls have fathers that want to protect them,” Soto said.

Chatel said Soto’s comments referred to what he would have done and was not an imminent threat.

After “20/20” aired, Hadley filed an affidavit saying Soto’s comments frightened him.

“Although it is certainly within the prosecutor’s discretion to charge or not charge any case, I believe this situation called for charges and punishment for Soto,” Hadley’s attorney, George “Skip” Campbell, said.

“We can only hope the backlash and outrage caused by this threat will deter Soto from taking any further criminal actions.”

Hadley and Soto’s daughter were caught skipping school last fall, and the girl told police Hadley raped her. Although she later admitted to police she lied, Hadley was charged with sexual assault because he admitted the two had sex.

Soto was charged with assault for beating up Hadley.

Both eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault; Soto was sentenced to 12 months in jail; Hadley to three months. Both sentences were suspended on condition of good behavior.