Deborah Franklin, 65, a former preparatory school teacher in Hertfordshire, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of eight counts of gross indecency against a boy she ab¥sed during the 1990s when he was aged between nine and 12.
Franklin, who was in her 30s and married at the time, became the boy’s private tutor and subjected him to repeated s+xual ab¥se. The court heard that she would visit his home and invite him to hers, with the boy later saying he had “no memory of work ever being done” during the tutoring sessions.
During one encounter in the garage at the boy’s home, Franklin reportedly removed her clothes and asked him, “do you want to touch me?”
On another occasion at Franklin’s home, the boy said she tied him to her bed, blindfolded him and tickled him. He also told the court that during one s+xual encounter, Franklin called out her husband’s name.
The court heard that Franklin removed her clothes in front of the boy, kissed him, encouraged him to touch her and carried out multiple s+xual acts.
Sentencing her at St Albans Crown Court on October 1, His Honour Judge Choudhry described the offences as a “profound ab¥se of trust.” Prosecutor Gavin Pottinger said Franklin had used the opportunities and trust provided by her role to repeatedly ab¥se the boy.
Franklin, of Radlett, Hertfordshire, denied all the charges and claimed she could not remember tutoring him. Her lawyer, Aisling Byrnes, said Franklin had lived an “exemplary life” and continued teaching after the offences, while maintaining her innocence.
In a victim statement, he said the ab¥se had remained “a constant shadow” throughout his life, adding: “My life has been shaped by what happened to me when I was a nine-year-old boy.”
