Woman jailed for sexually abusing boy she tutored in Hertfordshire
Deborah Franklin sentenced to seven years for gross indecency
A former prep teacher who sexually abused a boy she tutored has been jailed for seven years.
Deborah Franklin, 65, who taught at a preparatory school in Hertfordshire, was the complainant’s private tutor during the 1990s and subjected him to “repeated sexual activity” while he was aged between nine and 12.
Earlier this year she was convicted at St Albans Crown Court of eight counts of gross indecency against the boy after a trial.
Franklin was sentenced at the same court to seven years in prison on Thursday by His Honour Judge Choudhry, who said her offending involved a “profound abuse of trust”.
Prosecutor Gavin Pottinger told the hearing on Thursday that Franklin “took the opportunities provided by her role and the trust placed in her to repeatedly abuse (the boy)”.
Aisling Byrnes, mitigating, said Franklin lived an “exemplary life” and continued to teach in the years after the offences were committed.
She added that her client “maintains her innocence”.
The former teacher was in her 30s and married at the time of the offences, her trial was told.
It was said she took her clothes off in front of the boy, kissed him, got him to touch her and performed multiple sexual acts.
Franklin of Radlett, Hertfordshire, had denied all the charges and claimed she could not remember tutoring the boy.
The trial heard that after Franklin began tutoring the boy privately, she would visit his house and invite him to hers.
The complainant viewed Franklin as “young” and “high energy”, who “presented like a mate” and spoke about drugs, cigarettes and sex, the court heard.
Mr Pottinger said she was “trusted” by his family to be in the boy’s room during tutoring sessions, but added that she was a woman “whose boundaries were just not there”.
The complainant’s sister once saw Franklin under the covers of her brother’s bed, it was heard.
The court was told that during one sexual encounter in the garage at the complainant’s house, Franklin took off her clothes and asked “do you want to touch me?”.
On another occasion, at her own house, Franklin tied him to her bed, blindfolded him and tickled him, the complainant said.
The accuser said that during another sex act, Franklin called out her husband’s name.
Jurors heard that the complainant alleged the defendant described herself as his “girlfriend” but advised him to be discreet about others finding out.
He said that he had “no memory of work ever being done” during tutoring sessions, the court heard.
The complainant first reported the incidents to police in March 2024.
Giving evidence, Franklin told jurors that it was “quite common for teachers and parents and children to socially interact”.
Franklin was asked by Ms Byrnes if there was “any truth” in the allegations that she sexually touched the boy during tutoring sessions, to which she responded: “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.
Ms Byrnes previously told the court that Franklin was no longer working at the school and had been involved with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) charity before her conviction.