ORLANDO, Fla. – A major development in the federal investigation into the Doctor Phillips High School hazing scandal is expected this week.
Local 6 has learned investigators from the U.S. Department of Education are expected in Orlando as early as Tuesday morning to conduct interviews in order to gather more information about how the district handled disciplining star football players accused of brutally beating freshman Darrion Denson.
Recommended Videos
In January, Local 6 first broke how the DOE's Office of Civil Rights launched the investigation, which was requested by the alleged victim's father.
Porter Denson told Local 6 he asked for the federal investigation because he believes the district intentionally failed to properly discipline all of his son's alleged attackers and then retaliated against his family for speaking out.
A major point of controversy centered around how Orange County officials interpret a state juvenile criminal privacy law in a way to prohibit local prosecutors from sharing the evidence it gathered to justify filing misdemeanor hazing and battery charges against six DPHS players. Without having access to that evidence from the prosecutors, OCPS officials say they can't punish all of those players.
But the issue of whether the law really prevents the sharing of that information is unclear. Local 6 checked with several other state agencies and couldn't find a single one that shares the same interpretation of the privacy law as the Orange County officials. Local 6 reported in December how the University of Central Florida, Seminole County Public Schools and Brevard County Public Schools all have agreements to share juvenile misdemeanor information with law enforcement, and those agencies believe it is perfectly legal to do so.
There was talk during an Orange County School Board meeting in January of the OCPS asking Attorney General Pam Bondi's office to issue an opinion regarding the legality of sharing the information. But the last time Local 6 checked with Bondi's office -- about two weeks ago -- a representative said Bondi's Opinions Division had received not yet received a request. An attorney general opinion could help end the conflict among state agencies in interpreting the law.
Reached Monday night, a district spokeswoman wasn't aware of the information Local 6 had learned regarding the expected visit from federal investigators and pointed out how OCPS can't comment on pending investigations.
Watch Local 6 and check back to ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.