ESPN to air special on Jordan Preavy

Sports television network ESPN will air an hour-long special on extreme hazing Tuesday night, focusing in part on the story of former Milton High School football player Jordan Preavy.

Preavy killed himself in 2012. After his death, a coach reported that he had been sexually assaulted and hazed. His parents are suing the Milton School District, accusing the school of failing to protect Preavy.

Preavy's parents, as well as the police investigating the crime, tell their story on Outside the Lines, ESPN's investigative sports journalism show.

John Barr, the reporter, said his team started seeing case after case of hazing involving sodomy across the country. He tried to determine the number of cases but found no state or federal agencies track the data.

He wanted to get an understanding of why extreme hazing is so prevalent across the country and how schools respond to the cases.

"That’s one of the more disturbing aspects of this – just the way these cases are investigated by the schools," he said.

On Sunday, the Burlington Free Press reported on efforts Milton School District was taking to deal with hazing, but found that school officials were tight lipped about an investigation into hazing undertaken by Superintendent Ann Bradshaw.

Milton officials focused on hazing prevention

Bradshaw came to Milton in the wake of a report by retired state trooper Dan Troidl, who found that several Milton officials, including former Superintendent John Barone and Principal Anne Blake, had failed in their duty to report hazing.

Bradshaw was charged with reviewing Troidl's report and determining whether personnel issues needed to be addressed but refused to explain why she had decided that Blake should remain on as principal.

Barr said he wanted to raise awareness about the problem of extreme hazing with his report.

"Until schools take it more seriously, until there’s better oversight, and until the culture of athletics changes, this isn’t going to stop," he said.

Outside the Lines' episode on hazing will air 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, on ESPN.

Correction: The ESPN journalist who reported this story is named John Barr. An earlier version of this story misspelled his name.

This story originally appeared online on September 12, 2016. Contact Jess Aloe at 802-660-1874 or jaloe@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jess_aloe