The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant Summary

The Franklin Scandal by Nick Bryant is an investigative exposé of a nationwide child-trafficking and pedophilia ring that operated in the United States. The scandal emerged from an investigation into Omaha, Nebraska's failed Franklin Federal Credit Union and eventually implicated businessmen, senators, major media corporations, the CIA, and Boys Town. The book details how state and federal authorities covered up this interstate trafficking network through corrupted grand juries and mysterious deaths.

Nick Bryant is an investigative journalist and author who spent seven years researching and documenting child sex trafficking networks in America. He has focused his writing career on the plight of lower-socioeconomic children in the United States. Bryant later acquired Jeffrey Epstein's "Little Black Book" in 2012 and drew parallels between the Franklin and Epstein scandals. He should not be confused with the BBC journalist of the same name.

The Franklin Scandal is essential reading for journalists, criminal justice professionals, child welfare advocates, and anyone interested in understanding systemic corruption and institutional cover-ups. This book appeals to readers seeking investigative journalism that exposes uncomfortable truths about power structures. It's particularly relevant for those studying the intersection of child abuse, political corruption, and media complicity in suppressing scandals involving powerful figures.

The Franklin Scandal is a meticulously researched investigation featuring firsthand interviews with eight victims and extensive documentation from investigator Gary Caradori's files. Bryant's seven-year investigation uncovered evidence that mainstream media outlets refused to publish. The book provides crucial context for understanding how child trafficking networks operate with institutional protection, making it an important historical record despite the disturbing subject matter. Readers describe it as "eye opening".

The Franklin Federal Credit Union scandal began with the 1988 collapse of a credit union in Omaha, Nebraska, which led investigators to uncover an interstate child-trafficking operation. The credit union's manager, Larry King, was trafficking children from foster care homes, Boys Town orphanage, and other institutions across state lines. What started as a financial investigation revealed a pedophile network that flew children coast to coast for exploitation by powerful individuals.

The Franklin Scandal centered on two primary traffickers: Larry King in Nebraska, who procured children from foster care and Boys Town, and Craig Spence in Washington DC, who operated a home wired for audio-visual blackmail. Gary Caradori, the investigator hired by Nebraska senators, gathered 21 hours of videotaped victim testimony before his plane mysteriously disintegrated over Illinois in 1990. Victims Alisha Owen and Paul Bonacci refused to recant their testimonies despite facing extensive prison time.

Gary Caradori died when his plane broke apart over Lee County, Illinois in 1990, killing him and his eight-year-old son. Caradori had just obtained photographs in Chicago documenting the pedophilic activities of Larry King and other powerful individuals. Nick Bryant presents four points of corroboration that Caradori received these pictures, which were never recovered after the crash. Bryant firmly believes Caradori's death was a homicide based on irregularities in the FBI and National Transportation Safety Board investigations.

Victims in The Franklin Scandal faced unprecedented persecution when two corrupted grand juries found no child abuse occurred and instead indicted the victims for perjury. Alisha Owen was indicted on eight counts facing 160 years in prison, while Paul Bonacci faced three counts and 60 years. Despite these threats, both refused to recant their testimonies. Nick Bryant interviewed eight victims on record during his research, though many others had become drug addicts, spent time in prison, or simply disappeared.

The Franklin Scandal implicates a disturbing array of institutions including major media corporations, the CIA, and the venerable Boys Town organization. The book documents how businessmen and senators were involved in or protected the trafficking network. Nick Bryant reveals how state and federal law enforcement agencies actively participated in the cover-up rather than pursuing justice. This institutional complicity extended to corrupted grand jury proceedings that criminalized victims instead of perpetrators.

Nick Bryant describes The Franklin Scandal and the Epstein case as "quite similar" because both child trafficking networks were covered up by state and federal authorities with mainstream media complicity. However, Bryant believes the Franklin pandering network was "much, much bigger" than Epstein's operation. Bryant began investigating Epstein in 2012 after acquiring his "Little Black Book," pitching the story to mainstream outlets for three years before Gawker finally published it in 2015. Both scandals demonstrate how powerful perpetrators evaded accountability.

Nick Bryant obtained Gary Caradori's complete investigation documents, including a list of approximately 60 victims. The book features extensive firsthand interviews with eight victims who spoke on record, along with 21 hours of videotaped victim testimony that Caradori had collected. Bryant conducted seven years of research, tracking down victims who had fallen through society's cracks. The extensively researched report examines corrupted grand jury proceedings, mysterious deaths, and the systematic suppression of evidence by law enforcement agencies.

The Franklin Scandal has been deliberately suppressed by mainstream media outlets and subjected to misinformation campaigns. Nick Bryant notes that Wikipedia's "Franklin child prostitution ring allegations" page has been corrupted by unscrupulous editors who intentionally made it nonsensical. When Bryant pitched stories about both Franklin and Epstein to mainstream outlets, he faced "unbridled skepticism and incredulity". The scandal implicates powerful institutions and individuals, making media organizations reluctant to demand justice for exploited children.