Female teacher is ‘choosing not to remember tying boy, 10, to her bed’

A female teacher accused of tying a boy to her bed and blindfolding him before a Sєx act ‘is choosing not to remember him’, a court has heard. 

Deborah Franklin, 65, is standing trial charged with eight counts of gross indecency against the boy in the 1990s while he was aged between nine and 12 – when she was a teacher at a preparatory school in Hertfordshire.

She allegedly blindfolded and strapped the boy to her marital bed for hours so she could Sєxually tickle him with a feather during a years-long campaign of abuse.

Franklin gave evidence in the witness box at St Albans Court today where she said she had told police she had no recollection of who he was until they showed her a pH๏τo of him. 

During cross-examination, prosecutor Gavin Pottinger later asked: ‘Did you in fact remember (the boy) a good deal more than you are admitting to?’

The defendant replied: ‘No.’

Mr Pottinger asked: ‘You are choosing, still choosing, not to remember anything that happened in those years aren’t you?’

Franklin replied: ‘No.’

Franklin is said to have met the alleged victim, now in his 40s, when he was nine and joined her class – before she became his private tutor.

He claims they had ‘countless’ Sєxual encounters, and said he was led to believe that he was in a relationship with Franklin – who was around 30 when the alleged abuse began.

Deborah Franklin, 65, is standing trial at St Albans Court charged with eight counts of gross indecency against the boy in the 1990s while he was aged between nine and 12. She denies all charges

The man said in a recorded interview: ‘I remember her clothes were off and she was teaching me how to touch a woman, and I remember saying: ‘It smells funny’… I remember her just telling me what to do and I would just do it.’   

Franklin told jurors today it was ‘quite common for teachers and parents and children to socially interact’.

The court heard that Franklin had told police during an interview that she could not recall tutoring the boy, but that ‘little bits have come back’ from looking at old pH๏τographs and talking with her legal team.

She added: ‘Things pop into your mind, I’ve had a long time to think about it.’

Defence barrister Aisling Byrnes had earlier asked the defendant if there was ‘any truth’ in the allegations that she Sєxually touched the boy during tutoring sessions.

Franklin replied: ‘No.’

The defendant told jurors that it would not have been ‘unusual’ to be in a pupil’s bedroom or on their bed while tutoring them.

Later asked about this during cross-examination by Mr Pottinger, Franklin said: ‘I’m not sure he was actually sitting with me, I expect he was sitting at a desk.’

The defendant also said it was ‘possible’ she invited the complainant to her house, adding: ‘Possibly for tutoring, but I didn’t do that usually.’

Ms Byrnes asked if the complainant was ever naked in her house, to which the defendant, who was married at the time, replied: ‘No.’

The barrister then asked Franklin if she had tied the boy to her bed at her house before an alleged Sєx act took place.

Franklin, of Radlett, Hertfordshire, replied: ‘No.’

Ms Byrnes asked Franklin if Sєxual contact ever took place on the boy’s bed.

She said: ‘No.’

Franklin also denied the boy ever had a bath in her house, before Ms Byrnes asked her if she had ever taken him to Alton Towers. 

‘I don’t think so,’ Franklin replied.

Franklin was asked by Mr Pottinger if there was a ‘change’ in her relationship with the boy when she allegedly took her clothes off at his house.

She replied: ‘I did not do that at all, no.’

She denied ever being ‘more of a mate or friend figure [to the boy] than a teacher’ when it was put to her by Mr Pottinger. 

But Franklin accepted that she spent more time with the complainant than any other pupil in his year.

Mr Pottinger asked: ‘So why do you have trouble remembering him, now that you accept that you spent more time with him?’

Franklin answered: ‘I don’t remember other children either.’

When she was shown a pH๏τo of the boy apparently leaning into her she said: ‘That is a typical sort of pH๏τo we would take even now.’

Jurors have heard the complainant said that at one point Franklin said to him: ‘I wonder if you are going to hate me when you grow up.’

The prosecutor asked her: ‘Did you say that?’

Franklin replied: ‘No.’

She was asked if there was any particular reason she would not remember spending time with the complainant and his family.

She said: ‘An awful lot of time has pᴀssed, a lot has happened in between. I have taught many children and tutored many children.’   

Mr Pottinger put it to Franklin that she allegedly took the boy’s hand and ‘guided it’ on her and taught him to kiss.

Franklin replied: ‘No.’

Pressed further, she added: ‘I don’t accept that.’ 

Emma Douglas, a former colleague of Franklin, also gave evidence today and described the teacher as ‘very fair and firm’.

‘Did you ever notice that she was acting in any way that you would describe as inappropriate with any pupil?’, asked Ms Byrnes.

‘Never,’ replied Ms Douglas.

Ms Byrnes asked her: ‘Did you ever socialise with families outside school?’

Mr Douglas said: ‘Yes.’

Asked how she would describe Franklin, Ms Douglas said that she was ‘great fun, honest, somebody that you could rely on, a good friend’.

Ms Byrnes asked her: ‘Was there anything about Mrs Franklin’s conduct in school or outside school when you first knew her that would make you reconsider anything you told us today about her character?’

Ms Douglas replied: ‘No.’

Ms Byrnes asked: ‘Would she interact with [her pupils] in terms of physically touching them?’, asked Ms Byrnes.

Ms Douglas replied: ‘No.’

She was shown a picture where Franklin appeared to be touching the complainant.

Ms Douglas added: ‘Physical contact from these pictures would be normal, particularly for me as a Year Three teacher.’

A parent who sent her two children to the school said in a character reference read to the court that her ‘younger child flourished’ thanks to Franklin.

She added: ‘Her strict, no nonsense teaching style gave our younger child the perfect opportunity to learn.’

‘She listened to my concerns. She never ignored any issues that I brought to her.’

‘She never fobbed me off or told me what she thought I wanted to hear.’

She said that she was ‘shocked’ when she found out about the allegations against Franklin.

‘I never witnessed any behavior that was cause for concern.’

A former pupil said he later sent his children to the same school and said in his character reference: ‘I remember her as a strict teacher who had a very good sense of humour.

‘Nothing ever seemed to be too much trouble when it came to giving the children a thorough education.’

Addressing the allegations against Franklin he said: ‘I was shocked when I heard them. It is wholly inconsistent with what I personally witnessed and experienced over many years.’

Franklin, of Radlett, Hertfordshire, denies eight counts of gross indecency with a boy under 14. 

The trial continues.