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Written by: K. Bishop
Published May 17, 2023 @ 8:40 PM ET
ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. – A Woody Way family contacted the sheriff’s office on April 17 after their 17-year-old autistic teenager was accused of attempting to sniff his young stepsister’s private areas and trying to remove her pants.
Franklin allegedly violated the girl on April 14. His 8-year-old stepsister reportedly told Franklin’s father about the abuse, and he relayed the information to his wife, who called police. The family told deputies that Franklin had recently come to live with them and that he was on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, meaning he should be capable of knowing that sexually inappropriate behavior toward his sister was wrong. Franklin and his brother were removed from the family home and taken to a hotel pending an investigation.
According to court records, an attorney for Ignacius Paul Franklin announced his intent to claim incompetency by reason of insanity.
On April 19, Franklin was booked into the Bartow County Jail on charges of kidnapping, aggravated sexual battery, and child molestation. He was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. On April 25, he entered a special plea of incompetency to stand trial claiming insanity.
This case is currently pending in court.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On Monday, April 17, 2023, at 2334 hours, I was dispatched to [60 BLOCK] Woody Way, in reference to a sexual assault report. Upon arrival, I met with [WITNESS #1] and [WITNESS #2].
[WITNESS #1] was advised by [WITNESS #2] a few hours ago, that their 8-year-old daughter, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] had disclosed that her 17-year-old stepbrother, Ignacius Franklin, had attempted to do things to her.
[WITNESS #1] advised that Ignacius attempted 3 different times, to smell [REDACTED BY AGENCY] va*ina, and attempted to pull her pants down. When [REDACTED BY AGENCY] was asked about when these incident’s occurred, she only remembered, last Friday, April 14, 2023.
[WITNESS #1] advised [REDACTED BY AGENCY] advised there was never any penetration according to [REDACTED BY AGENCY] but she was also unable to ask their 4-year-old [REDACTED BY AGENCY] if similar things happened to her, due to her being asleep.
[WITNESS #2] advised they recently got custody over his two sons, [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and Ignacius, and have lived with them for approximately 11 months. [WITNESS #2] advised he asked Ignacius about the incident’s, to which Ignacius, replied by stating he would never do such a thing, and it never happened. [WITNESS #2] advised Ignacius is high functioning autistic, but knows right from wrong.
Investigator Abernathy was made aware of the incident, and due to the children living in the same residence, I was advised the children needed to be separated. [WITNESS #2] agreed to take both [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and Ignacius, to a hotel, until another option was given.
Once [WITNESS #2] left the residence with [REDACTED BY AGENCY] and Ignacius, I contacted DFACS (1-800-GA-Child) and notified them of the incident.
I advised [WITNESS #1] Investigator Abernathy would be reaching out about scheduling a forensic interview. [WITNESS #2] was also advised the children needed to be separated until he was told otherwise. [WITNESS #2] understood.
The investigation was turned over to Investigator Abernathy for further.
[End of Narrative]
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