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The Franklin child prostitution ring allegations took place between 1988 and 1991 and involved an alleged child sex ring serving prominent citizens of the Nebraska Republican Party, as well as high-level U.S. politicians. The allegations centered on the actions of Lawrence E. King Jr., who ran the now defunct Franklin Community Federal Credit Union (FCFCU) in Omaha.

State Foster Care Review Board submitted the results of a two-year investigation into the physical and sexual abuse of foster children to the Executive Board of the Nebraska Legislature, who were investigating reports of child sexual abuse linked to the credit union. Authorities launched a probe, interviewing a number of claimed abuse victims who said that children in foster care were flown to the U.S. East Coast and were abused at "bad parties." After investigation, a Douglas County (the county seat for Omaha, Nebraska) grand jury determined the abuse allegations were baseless, describing them as a "carefully crafted hoax" and indicted two of the accusers on perjury charges. The grand jury also suggested that the abuse stories originated from a vindictive employee terminated by Boys Town, the famed refuge for troubled youths. Later, a federal grand jury concluded that the abuse allegations were unfounded and indicted 21 year old Alisha Owen, an alleged victim, on eight counts of perjury. The same grand jury also indicted multiple officers of the credit union, including King, for fraud and other crimes. Alisha Owen served 4-1/2 years in prison.

The Legislature's Franklin Committee, officially charged with the investigation, criticized a grand jury's conclusion that child-sexual-abuse allegations against prominent men amounted to "a carefully crafted hoax."

The grand jury said Larry King probably was guilty of pandering because he engaged in sex with men in their late teens or early 20s. The grand jury did not charge him with that crime because, it noted, he faced 40 felony charges resulting from his alleged financial misconduct while Franklin's top officer. Because the grand jury failed to indict King, the allegations of illicit sexual acts against him never were fully investigated, the committee said.

Former State Senator Loran Schmit, a member of the Franklin legislative committee, testified that he still found credible the sexual-abuse allegations. "It would be very difficult for them, in my opinion, to make up those stories," Schmit testified in the Douglas County District Court perjury trial of Alisha Owen.

In 1991, John DeCamp filed a lawsuit on behalf of Paul A. Bonaccio, one of the accusers indicted for perjury by the county grand jury, against King in civil court alleging that King and 15 other defendants had forced him to take part in a child prostitution ring. Fifteen defendants were cleared but King failed to respond to a court summons to appear and Judge Warren Keith Urbom entered a default judgment for $1 million against him. King subsequently appealed to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but later dropped the appeal, letting the judgment stand.

Historian Philip Jenkins explored how hot topics such as the Franklin allegations, whether or not they are worthy of attention or credible on their own merits, are seized by political opportunists for their own purposes. He also described how cases such as the Franklin allegations can acquire credibility, even if they lack any credibility inherently, when reported in various media in a credulous voice. Numerous conspiracy theories evolved and persist, claiming that the alleged abuse was part of a widespread series of crimes including devil worship, cannibalism, drug trafficking, CIA arms dealing and links with the first Bush Administration.

Notes

References

1. ^ Jenkins, Philip (2004). Moral Panic: Changing Concepts of the Child Molester in Modern America. Yale University Press. pp. 174–5. ISBN 978-0-300-10963-4.
2. Robbins, William (December 18, 1988). "A Lurid, Mysterious Scandal Begins Taking Shape in Omaha". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
3. Robbins, William (December 25, 1988). "Nebraska Inquiry Is Given File on Sex Abuse of Foster Children". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
4. ^ Robbins, Williams (July 29, 1990). "Omaha Grand Jury Sees Hoax in Lurid Tales". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
5. "Omaha Tales of Sexual Abuse Ruled False". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 27, 1990. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
6. USA Today. August 9, 1991. p. 6A. Alisha Owen, convicted of lying to grand jury probing charges of sex and drug abuse in failure of Omaha credit union, was sentenced to 9 to 15 years in prison. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. ^ July 8, 1992, Omaha World-Herald. "Franklin Panel Faults Grand Jury's Conclusion". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved November 24, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. June 13, 1991, Omaha World-Herald. "Abuse Accounts Still Credible, Schmit Testifies". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. Santiago, Frank (February 24, 1999). "Judge makes $1 million award". The Des Moines Register. Pg 8. Retrieved 23 November 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
10. Dorr, Robert (13 January 2000). "Lawrence King Drops Appeal Of Judgement". Omaha World-Herald. p 15 url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=OWHB&p_theme=owhb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=Lawrence%20King%20Appeal%20AND%20date(1/13/2000%20to%201/13/2000)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/13/2000%20to%201/13/2000)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(Lawrence%20King%20Appeal)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. {{cite news}}: External link in |location= (help); Missing pipe in: |location= (help)CS1 maint: location (link)

• Conspiracy theories
• Hoaxes in the United States
• Child sexual abuse
• Politics of Nebraska
• Crime in Omaha, Nebraska