What was the outcome of the Franklin investigation, including prosecutions, convictions, and overturned claims?

1. The original allegations and official inquiries

Allegations from 1988–1990 accused King and associates of running a national ring that prostituted and trafficked foster children, prompting a legislative Franklin Committee, local and federal law‑enforcement inquiries, and hiring of private investigator Gary Caradori to follow leads — a probe that coincided with the federal raid of the credit union over millions missing ^{[2] [3]}.

2. Grand juries, “hoax” finding, and the legal conclusion on the ring

Multiple grand juries and official investigations ultimately found the lurid claims unsubstantiated; reporting and follow‑ups summarized that grand juries concluded the alleged sex‑trafficking network was unfounded and in some characterizations a “carefully crafted hoax,” a conclusion highlighted in fact‑checking and mainstream accounts of the case ^{[1] [3]}.

3. Criminal prosecutions and who was charged

Rather than prosecutions of powerful public figures for trafficking, the legal actions that followed included perjury indictments and prosecutions of some of the youth witnesses; prominent accusers such as Alisha Owen were prosecuted for perjury, which critics say reinforced the official narrative that the allegations were fabricated ^{[4] [6]}. Paul Bonacci — the most prominent accuser who also faced a grand‑jury investigation — was indicted on perjury charges at one point but was not ultimately convicted on those charges, according to accounts that note charges were dropped, possibly linked to his cooperation or testimony ^[3].

4. Civil litigation and the default judgment against King

Paul Bonacci pursued a civil suit against Lawrence King and won a default judgment when King failed to appear or defend in court; that judgment was later cited by proponents of the abuse narrative as validation, but it was a default ruling rather than a contested trial verdict and the awarded money was reportedly never collected ^{[2] [3]}.

5. Tragic deaths, contested evidence, and persistent counterclaims

The investigation’s momentum was severely affected when private investigator Gary Caradori and his son died in a 1990 plane crash — an event that fueled cover‑up theories though investigators did not establish foul play ^{[2] [3]}. Conspiracy authors and some participants continued to allege that official probes suppressed evidence; John DeCamp’s polemical book The Franklin Cover‑Up argued a broad cover‑up involving political figures and framed the default judgment and other anomalies as proof, while mainstream inquiries and subsequent reporting criticized the investigative methods and found the more extraordinary allegations (ritual abuse, CIA conspiracies) unsupported ^{[5] [4]}.

6. Final assessment: prosecutions, convictions, overturned claims

The net legal outcome was that no criminal convictions established a nationwide Franklin trafficking ring, multiple grand juries deemed the core allegations unproven and in some reporting called them a hoax, several witness prosecutions for perjury occurred (and convictions of some witnesses were used to buttress the hoax narrative), and the most notable civil result — Bonacci’s default judgment against King — remains legally distinct from a criminal finding and was never enforced in full ^{[1] [4] [2] [3]}. Reporting and later retrospectives make clear there remain contested interpretations: critics of the official record assert suppression and mismanagement ^{[5] [4]}, while fact‑checks and grand‑jury findings underscore that prosecutorial and evidentiary standards failed to substantiate the sensational claims ^[1].