A trusted private tutor who allegedly blindfolded and tied a young boy to her bed during what were supposed to be private lessons now faces prison time after a jury convicted her of multiple sexual offenses.
Deborah Franklin, now 65, was found guilty of eight counts of gross indecency against the victim, who was between nine and 12 years old in the 1990s. The conviction came after a trial at St Albans Crown Court in the UK.
According to court testimony, Franklin gained the boy’s parents’ trust to access his bedroom for tutoring sessions. Prosecutors said she was a woman “whose boundaries were just not there.”
The victim’s sister reportedly caught Franklin under her brother’s covers during one of the lessons. The complainant told jurors he remembered Franklin tying him to her bed, blindfolding him, and tickling him during one incident at her own house.
Franklin, who was in her 30s and married at the time, sat emotionless in court and claimed she did not remember tutoring the boy at all, according to reports.
Prosecutor Gavin Pottinger asked Franklin if she was “choosing not to remember,” and she replied “No.” When asked if there was any truth to the allegations, she again said “No.”
The defense argued that Franklin’s relationship with the boy was “entirely proper” and not “unusually close and inappropriate.” But jurors sided with the prosecution after hearing that the victim had “consistently recounted the substance of the allegations over many years to many people.”
Franklin, who still worked as a teacher and home tutor until her arrest in March 2024, was remanded in custody. The judge told her she faces a “high possibility” of being jailed at her sentencing on October 1.
The case has left many wondering how someone so trusted could allegedly 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 that trust for so long without being stopped.
