Eclectic Anecdotes

The Franklin Community Federal Credit Union was a bank that failed while managed by Lawrence E. King, Jr. During his tenure he embezzled $39 million. The Franklin Legislative Committee was established to investigate the workings of the bank and why it failed. However, it veered off into investigating allegations of child sexual abuse, child pornography, murder, and satanism. Largely as a response to the Committee getting off track looking into these claims, the Douglas County Grand Jury was convened to get to the bottom of these claims.

The Grand Jury came to the conclusion that the claims of a child sex trafficking ring were false:

There is no doubt after reviewing all relevant evidence, that the story of sexual abuse, drugs, prostitution, and judicial bribery presented in the legislative videotapes is a carefully crafted hoax, scripted by a person or persons with considerable knowledge of the people and institutions of Omaha, including personal relationships and shortcomings.[1]

Further, they said the Franklin Legislative Committee “operated largely from a political and personal motivational base,” and dragged the investigation on such that it costed “the State of Nebraska thousands of extra dollars.”[2] In the end, the Grand Jury found “no evidence of a cover up.”[3]

Books written by John DeCamp and Nick Bryant say the Grand Jury was wrong, and that there was a child sexual abuse ring. But once we carefully sift through the evidence, we will see how the conclusion of the Grand Jury is correct.

To start with, before there was an elaborate hoax that the Grand Jury mentioned, we need to discuss a young foster girl named Eulice Washington.

Eulice Washington

Eulice and her sisters Tracy and Tasha were placed in the foster home of Barbara and Jarrett Webb. Barbara was a cousin of Larry King and Jarrett was a board member of King’s credit union.[4]

These girls claimed to have been physically abused by Jarett, and Eulice claimed that he sexually abused her. Others in this foster home were claimed to have been physically abused, as was the case of two boys who were removed from the home after making their claims. The Grand Jury found “that there is probably cause to believe that” Jarrett Webb sexually abused Eulice Washington in 1985.[5] However, the charges against him were dismissed because the statute of limitations had gone by before being filed.

Eulice’s story eventually evolved. Her initial story only included abuse in the Webb household. It then developed into her and other children being flown to various locations where orgies occurred under the auspices of Larry King.[6] The Grand Jury said that “no witness before the Grand Jury could confirm in any way that [Eulice] Webb or any other children were ever transported for any illegal purposes and we found no evidence to support these claims.”[7]

Shawnetta Moore

Shawnetta Moore was another person involved in this developing story of child trafficking. She alleged that “she became involved in a cult where older male members sexually molested her and killed infants and children to establish their dominance over other cult members.”[8] The Grand Jury stated,

Unfortunately the witness could not provide even one definite time, location, name, physical description or other fact upon which to base further investigation. Although the girl insisted that some events did occur, she admitted that it is difficult for her now to distinguish between reality and fantasy with regard to cult activities because of her heavy alcohol and drug use at the time.[9]

The Grand Jury continued,

Although the girl has attended a couple of parties hosted by King, where adults and children were present, she saw no illegal drugs or sexual activity at any of these functions. The Grand Jury found no evidence to substantiate any connection between King, or any Franklin personnel, and the alleged illegal activities described by the girl.[10]

This is not to say that she wasn’t abused. In fact, the Grand Jury was of the belief that she was abused, “although the perpetrators of such abuse may never be known.”[11] The persons who abused her, whoever they were, were not part of a child sex trafficking ring centered around Larry King.

Michael Casey

It is with Michael Casey that the Franklin hoax begins to take shape as a public spectacle.

Casey was fired from the child and family care organization Boy’s Town in 1974 for “allegedly stealing confidential files and trying to sell a television series based on the school.”[12] He also said that he was in contact with Patty Hearst, granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, while she was kidnapped, which turned out to be a blatant lie.[13]

The Grand Jury stated,

We believe Boys Town was written into the Franklin scripts stemming from Michael Casey’s resentment of his termination from Boys Town. He attempted to slander and harass both the institution and its administrative staff. Casey has made public statements that he would get even with Boys Town.[14]

Further,

As our investigation progressed, we became increasingly concerned with the relationship between KKAR radio’s Station Manager, Steve Brown, and Michael Casey. During 1989, when the hoax was in its inception, Casey lived with and worked out of Brown’s house, and the two freely exchanged information. They each received and passed on unsubstantiated rumors and gossip.[15]

Casey had

Endeavored to uncover the “real” Franklin story, listening to street rumors, spending time with members of Omaha’s gay community, and seeking out potential victim/witnesses. He contacted many people, through telephone conversations, written communication, and personal interviews.[16]

Casey was also in contact with Bonnie Cosentino, who “had contact with many individuals whom she designated as ‘street people’ and from whom she obtained allegations and names without substantial evidence.”[17]

Gary Caradori

Gary Caradori was hired by the Franklin Committee as an investigator, and was responsible for filming the statements of the alleged victims Alisha Owen, Troy Boner, Danny King, and Paul Bonacci.

The Grand Jury stated,

In too many instances individuals Caradori interviewed were “fed items of information. He led his witnesses and the videotapes were stopped and started at suspicious intervals with the substance of the witnesses’ stories changing…. We believe that Caradori was duped into working with Casey, who took advantage of Caradori’s background information. Caradori, and his assistant, Karen Ormiston, shared confidential information with Casey, which ultimately wound up in the hands of a movie producer.[18]

It should also be noted that Caradori died when his private plane he was piloting crashed, which some have claimed was a result of sabotage. But the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the cause of the crash ruled out sabotage as a possibility.[19] There was no one trying to “silence” him. His crash was a possible result of fatigue, pilot disorientation, and instrument malfunction.

Alisha Owen

Alisha Owen testified to having been sexually abused by numerous men, including Larry King and Wilmington Police Chief Robert Wadman. She even said that Wadman fathered her child. However, “Genetic testing by three laboratories excluded Wadman, with 100 percent certainty, as the father of Miss Owen’s child.”[20] Further, she said that in all the times she spent having sex with Wadman, she never noticed that he had “any surgical scars. If they are there, I think I would have noticed them,” she said.[21] This is despite the fact that Wadman had a large scar on his right hip, where bone was removed to be grafted to his left arm that was injured. Wadman even displayed his arm for the jury to see.

The Grand Jury stated, “Owen’s motivation was to obtain a reduced prison sentence, or more comfortable conditions, and to collect money for her story or from civil litigation,” and “The vast majority of other witnesses named by Owen contradicted her testimony.”[22]

Her story was concocted based on her interactions with Casey and the feeding of information by Caradori.

She wasn’t able to keep her story straight. For example, in September 1989, when she was sentenced to prison, she wrote a letter saying that she met Troy Boner in 1988 and wrote bad checks at his request.[23] But later she said she met him in 1983 at parties where orgies and sexual abuse occurred.[24]

One of Owen’s friends said that she told him her main goal was getting out of prison, but getting money from the sexual allegations was also important. He said, “If she wasn’t going to get any money out of doing it, she wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t worth it.”[25] The FBI also said Owen told them that Caradori said there was a possibility for a movie contract.[26]

Further, Owen gave the FBI a list of names of people who could supposedly corroborate her claims. When an FBI agent told her that her claims could not be corroborated, she said that “everybody else was lying.”[27]

Troy Boner

Owen named Troy Boner and Danny King as two individuals she knew who were also abused through Larry King’s child abuse ring.

Boner’s story kept flip-flopping: first he told the story of sexual abuse to Caradori. Then, he told the Grand Jury he lied for money after Caradori said he could sue for millions. Finally, he said his Grand Jury statement was a lie because he was threatened by the FBI.

He said he went to the FBI trying to recant his recantation to the Grand Jury, and said that they laughed at him.[28] The FBI said this never occurred. If Boner was being threatened by the FBI, why would they laugh at him when he said he wanted to recant his story? Danny King’s assertion of Boner as a chronic liar holds up well. It seems that Boner felt guilty that he lied to Caradori after hearing of the latter’s death, and so to make Caradori’s wife feel that her husband’s final work wasn’t spurious, he lied to make her feel better. Mrs. Carardori had said, after Boner’s initial recantation, “what Boner has said about my husband is false and slanderous.” Her husband “did make a promise to the people who spoke to him, to the people who testified to him … He promised to fight for the truth until the day he died.”[29] The possibility of Boner’s guilt is further supported by Boner calling Caradori’s wife after Caradori’s death in the plane crash. An investigator who spoke to her said “[Boner] said to her that he wanted to do it for Gary.” At another time Boner said, “How do you tell somebody (who has just lost a husband and son) it’s all a lie?”[30] It seems that although Boner’s initial story of sexual abuse was a lie, he felt bad for Caradori’s wife and so changed his story back to the original of sexual abuse occurring, saying he lied to the Grand Jury.

The Grand Jury found that Boner’s involvement in the case stemmed from his desire to corroborate Owen’s allegations, for “the possibility of monetary gain through litigation, and the sale of movie and book rights.”[31]

Some have found the death of Boner’s brother Shawn suspicious, as if this was punishment against Troy for naming sexual abusers. But the cause of death was clear. Shawn and his friends were drinking and fooling around with a gun. Alcohol and firearms don’t mix well, and they kept pointing the gun at each other. All of the friends attest to Shawn pointing the gun at his own head and pulling the trigger.[32]

Then there is Troy Boner’s death. There was nothing suspicious about it. He had been complaining of chest pains when he checked in to the Abilene Medical Regional Center’s emergency room. He was transferred to their psychiatric facility and died shortly thereafter when personnel discovered him with blood flowing from his mouth. The autopsy report found that he died of “acute respiratory failure” and there was no evidence “foul play.”[33]

Danny King

Just like Boner, the Grand Jury found that Danny King corroborated Owen’s allegations for the purpose “of monetary gain through litigation, and the sale of movie and book rights.”[34] Boner and King both said that Caradori fed information to them during their interviews.

Nick Bryant argued that Boner and King shouldn’t be trusted. In the case of Boner, he says that Boner lied when he said Caradori had Owen talk to Boner on the phone before Caradori recorded Boner’s testimony. Phone logs showed no call ever occurred. In the case of Danny King, King said while at a hotel waiting for Caradori to return with food, King and Boner got drinks from the bar and hung out in the jacuzzi while they discussed what King should say for his recorded testimony. It turns out there was no bar lounge in the hotel. Even given that Boner and King were liars, as was Owen, we find a consensus among all of them that Caradori fed them information by asking them leading questions over a period of hours during their video recordings. Owen inadvertently gave credence to the claim that Caradori fed information to his witnesses. During questioning by Samuel Van Pelt, special prosecutor for the Grand Jury, the following dialogue played out:

Van Pelt: “My question is, did he (Caradori) have names like Robert Wadman, Harold Andersen?”

Miss Owen: “Yes.”

Van Pelt: “He gave those names to you?”

Miss Owen: “Uh huh. He asked me if I had ever seen—if I knew these people, and he asked me how I knew these people.”[35]

Paul Bonacci

Then there was the fourth videotaped witness, Paul Bonacci. The Grand Jury stated,

Bonacci was perhaps the most pathetic witness to appear during the entire proceedings. According to his testimony, he was a child victim of repeated sexual abuse by persons not associated with the Franklin investigation. He now stands convicted and sentenced on three separate charges of sexual abuse of a minor. He has told numerous stories, recanted the same, and then told more on videotape to Caradori. Even while testifying before us, he admitted that some of his Grand Jury testimony was untrue. He has been diagnosed as having multiple personalities, and his psychiatrist doubts that he can tell the truth. His many inconsistencies and contradictions render his testimony unbelievable and necessitate his indictment for perjury.[36]

An argument that is made in favor of Bonacci’s credibility is his lawsuit against Larry King. After filing a lawsuit against King, federal judge Warren Urbom awarded him $1 million. However, this was due to King not responding to the lawsuit. The judge never said that King actually abused Bonacci.[37] Although King initially appealed the decision, he ended up dropping his appeal.[38]

The judge ruling in favor of Bonacci and King rescinding his appeal does nothing to prove the veracity of Bonacci’s claims. From King’s perspective, mounting a legal defense would seem pointless given that he blew through all his money and getting involved in the courts would be more publicity for him, making it more difficult for him to restart his life once his prison sentence was over. Given that he was released in April 2001, it would be better for him to just move on and live quietly, which is what he did. Bonacci also filed lawsuits against fifteen others, yet these individuals were cleared. There was simply never any evidence to support his claims. Judge Urbom said Bonacci never presented “evidence of a conspiracy.”[39]

Peter Citron

Although there were many names of individuals who were included in this case as having participated in this fictional child-abuse ring, there are two individuals who were later indicted on charges related to sexual activities, and one of these actually was someone who committed sexual abuse of children, but not in relation to a child trafficking ring. This person was newspaper columnist Peter Citron.

The Grand Jury stated,

Evidence was presented which showed Citron having inappropriate sexual contact with male minors. This was further substantiated by his having been found guilty of two such charges by Judge Merritt Warren. No connection has been found to link Citron with the Franklin Credit Union, nor any of its principles. It appeared that he also was written into the script because of his known homosexual and pedophile behavior.[40]

Alan Baer

The other person indicted for sexual-related causes was Alan Baer. The Grand Jury said:

We have found no direct connection between Alan Baer and King or the Franklin Credit Union, other than limited social and business dealings. Many of the allegations made by Alisha Owen and Paul Bonacci about Baer are not true. It appears Baer was written into the script because of his wealth and well-known homosexuality.

…

[W]e did have testimony from certain witnesses about sexual involvement with Baer. Evidence also showed that these witnesses received substantial amounts of money or other valuables in exchange for sex. As such, we find that Baer enticed other persons to become prostitutes or to commit acts of prostitution by giving them money or items of value. Therefore, we believe Baer committed the offense of pandering, and we have handed down an indictment against him for that offense.[41]

Although illegal, this pandering did not occur with underage individuals, and certainly had nothing to do with a child trafficking ring.

Larry King

Larry King was accused by the Grand Jury for pandering, but never indicted. The Grand Jury stated,

We also found probable cause to believe that King, on numerous occasions, used money or items of value to “entice, inveigle, persuade, encourage or procure” men in their late teens or early twenties to engage in acts of prostitution with him, and, therefore, he committed the crime of pandering.[42]

There was no evidence of him engaging in sexual activities with underage persons.

Conclusion

The testimonies to the Douglas County Grand Jury by the alleged victims were not perfect. There were still discrepancies, a fact not surprising given that you can’t be mentally sound to make these types of false accusations. However, even with the imperfect testimonies of people like Boner and Danny King, whose minds were degraded by drug use, when we review all the evidence from the Grand Jury, it is clear that the assertion that there was a conspiracy of child sex-abuse centered around Larry King cannot be justified.

Here is a good overview of how the “script” for this hoax came about as written in the Sunday World-Herald:

Michael Casey talked to Alisha Owen, and they tossed around experiences and names of prominent people. Casey and Gary Caradori talked about the Franklin case. Casey gave Miss Owen’s name to Caradori as a possible victim of sexual abuse.

Casey also talked with former State Sen. John DeCamp, a Lincoln lawyer and lobbyist who took a great interest in the Franklin case although he had no official role in investigating it.

Everything came together when Miss Owen—skilled at impromptu acting, streetwise about sex and drugs, and described by a prosecutor as a pathological liar—told Caradori her wildly improbable story.

Her story included accusations of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen men. Some of the names never were made public. Miss Owen gave Troy Boner’s name to Caradori, and Boner led the investigator to Danny King.[43]

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[1] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[2] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[3] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[4] Nick Bryant, Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers Child Abuse & Betrayal (Walterville, OH: Trine Day LLC, 2011), 72, Kindle.

[5] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[6] Nick Bryant, Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers Child Abuse & Betrayal (Walterville, OH: Trine Day LLC, 2011), 90-91, Kindle.

[7] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[8] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[9] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[10] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[11] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[12] “Boy’s Town spending?” Ellensburg Daily Record (Ellensburg, WA), March 8, 1975.

[13] David Shaw, Newspapers Can Dish It Out, But Can They Take It?, New York Magazine, November 15, 1976, pg. 64.

[14] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[15] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[16] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[17] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[18] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[19] Robert Dorr, “Safety Board Finds No Sabotage in Caradori Crash,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 9, 1992.

[20] “Casey Set Sex-Abuse Rumors in Motion,” Sunday World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 21, 1991.

[21] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Owen Story About Wadman Called Charade,” Omaha World-Hearld (Omaha, NE), June 17, 1991.

[22] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[23] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Testimony Puts Focus On Paternity.” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), May 20, 1991.

[24] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Testimony Puts Focus On Paternity.” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), May 20, 1991.

[25] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “FBI Agent Says He Questioned Abuse Stories,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), May 22, 1991.

[26] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Owen Jurors Get New Story of Pregnancy,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), May 22, 1991.

[27] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Owen Jurors Get New Story of Pregnancy,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), May 22, 1991.

[28] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Abuse Accounts Still Credible, Schmit Testifies,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), June 13, 1991.

[29] “Caradori’s Widow Sympathizes With Wadman’s Wife,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), June 26, 1991.

[30] Leslie Boellstorff and Robert Dorr, “Abuse Accounts Still Credible, Schmit Testifies,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), June 13, 1991.

[31] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[32] Gabriella Stern, “Answers Yet to Come in Death From Game With Gun,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), January 25, 1991.

[33] Nick Bryant, Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers Child Abuse & Betrayal (Walterville, OH: Trine Day LLC, 2011), 634, Kindle.

[34] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[35] “Casey Set Sex-Abuse Rumors in Motion,” Sunday World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 21, 1991.

[36] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[37] Robert, Dorr, “Bonacci Gets $1 Million in King Lawsuit,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), February 24, 1999.

[38] Robert Dorr, “Lawrence King Drops Appeal Of Judgement,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), January 14, 2000.

[39] Butch Mabin, “Ruling in alleged sex ring appealed,” Lincoln Journal Star (Lincoln, NE), April 3, 1999.

[40] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[41] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[42] “Text of Douglas County Grand Jury Investigation,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 25, 1990.

[43] “Casey Set Sex-Abuse Rumors in Motion,” Sunday World-Herald (Omaha, NE), July 21, 1991.