Disclosure is a process. Sam and Diana Franklin raised three biological sons and adopted an eight year old girl. After the adoption was final, the child was subjected to years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, some of which included beatings, being shocked with a dog shock collar, and being locked in a chicken coop. Diana Franklin memorialized the abuse in handwritten journals. The child made outcries to law enforcement but was not rescued until years later after an anonymous tip was received by child protective services. The presenter will discuss the delayed disclosure, the abuse that occurred during the years the child resided with her adopted family, the child's outcries to law enforcement, and the investigation and prosecution that followed which resulted in a sentence of 190 years in prison. Attendees will better understand the importance of interviewing witnesses and obtaining search warrants during crimes against children investigations. The presenter will emphasize the importance of law enforcement officers collaborating with child protective services and child advocacy centers during criminal investigations.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the importance of law enforcement officers collaborating with child advocacy centers and child protective service employees.
Demonstrate the importance of executing search warrants in child molestation investigations.
Discuss the importance of developing and interviewing witnesses to corroborate a child's disclosure during child molestation investigations.
