Teacher tied boy to mattress earlier than intercourse act and requested ‘do you wish to contact me’

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Deborah Franklin, 65, who taught at a prep school in Hertfordshire, has been found guilty of eight counts of gross indecency against the boy in the 1990s while he was aged between nine and 12

A teacher has been found guilty of tying a boy to her bed and blindfolding him before carrying out a sex act. Deborah Franklin, 65, who taught at a preparatory school in Hertfordshire, was convicted of eight counts of gross indecency against the boy in the 1990s while 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 sexual activity.” Prosecutors say that she removed her clothes in front of the boy, kissed him, got him to touch her and performed multiple sexual acts at his house and hers. Franklin, of Radlett, Hertfordshire, denies this took place, saying she could not remember tutoring the boy.

She was emotionless in the dock as the verdicts came back. The defendant was remanded into custody and told by Judge Kamran Choudhry that she faces a “high possibility” of being jailed at her sentencing on October 1.

The court heard that Franklin was regularly at the complainant’s house, with his sister telling jurors of the defendant: “She was fun, she was charismatic. I thought she was cool.”

The boy viewed her as “young” and “high energy”, who “presented like a mate” and spoke about drugs, cigarettes and sex, the court heard.

Franklin was “trusted” by the family to be in the boy’s room during tutoring sessions, prosecutor Gavin Pottinger said. But Franklin was a woman “whose boundaries were just not there”, Mr Pottinger added.

The court heard that the defendant was once seen by the complainant’s sister under the covers of her brother’s bed. The accuser said one sexual encounter took place in the garage at his house, when Franklin took off her clothes and asked “do you want to touch me?”, jurors heard.

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.

Judge Kamran Choudhry, giving his legal directions to the jury, said that prosecutors said the accuser, now in his 40s, has “consistently recounted the substance of the allegations over many years to many people”.

The complainant first reported the incidents to police in 2024, the court heard. The judge added that the defence’s case was that Franklin’s relationship with the boy was “entirely proper” and not “unusually close and inappropriate”.

Franklin, giving evidence, told jurors it was “quite common for teachers and parents and children to socially interact”.

Mr Pottinger asked her: “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.”

Defence barrister Aisling Byrnes asked the defendant if there was “any truth” in the allegations that she sexually 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.