Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Secures 50-Year Sen­tence Against Human Traf­fick­er in North Texas Child Traf­fick­ing Case

Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a major victory in the fight against human trafficking after a Grayson County jury sentenced Robert Franklin to over 50 years in prison for trafficking and sexually exploiting a child. Franklin’s case was connected to a multi-state prostitution scheme operating across North Texas and Oklahoma. 

Franklin was sentenced to 50 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for trafficking and prostitution offenses and 20 years for sexual assault. He is not eligible for parole on the Trafficking of a Child charge and will serve the full sentence concurrently. The jury also imposed a $10,000 fine on each of the five counts. 

Evidence revealed that, on September 26, 2021, a sixteen-year-old victim was recovered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she reported that Franklin had previously picked her up after she had run away from Child Protective Services custody. Franklin initially transported the victim to Texas in October 2020, where he began prostituting her. He then returned to Oklahoma with her to continue the criminal behavior before abandoning her at a hotel. Then, from December 2020 through January 2021, Franklin picked up the victim and brought her to Sherman, Texas, where he prostituted her and sexually assaulted her multiple times.  

The sentence followed expert testimony from a Sergeant with the Office of the Texas Attorney General’s Human Trafficking division. Franklin testified in his own defense and admitted to transporting the victim throughout North Texas and Oklahoma as part of the prostitution operation. 

“My office is committed to partnering with law enforcement and authorities across the state to investigate, prosecute, and secure just sentences against dangerous offenders who commit unconscionable crimes,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The evils of the human trafficking world are far beyond despicable, and I will continue to fight to uncover these crimes and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.” 

Attorney General Paxton created the Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime (“HTTOC”) section of the Texas Attorney General’s office to fight back against the horrific crime of human trafficking through investigations, prosecutions, training, and raising awareness. The case was prosecuted by the OAG’s Assistant Attorneys General Helen Tschurr and Abbe Miller while working alongside the Grayson County District Attorney John Kermit Hill.