A very odd story in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch Friday committed the journalistic sin of “burying the lede.”

The story was - ostensibly - about the investigation of John Freshwater, a public school teacher who was teaching creationism and disparaging evolution in the classroom.

But in the seventh - yes seventh - paragraph, the reader comes across this:

The report confirmed that Freshwater burned crosses onto students’ arms, using an electrostatic device, in December.

According to the investigators hired by the school district, eighth graders taught by Freshwater frequently had to re-take classes to unlearn what they’d learned about biology. The investigation began after Freshwater refused to remove a Bible from his desk after being ordered to do so by school district authorities.

The Dispatch story says “all of the students” interviewed by investigators reported being branded with crosses. Freshwater told the investigators that the brands were not crosses, but X’s, according to the story.

While Freshwater…