If you’ve ever opened up a history book, it’s no secret that the US government has committed atrocious acts: the slaughter and forced removal of Native Americans, the trade and slavery of Africans, and the unparalleled bombings and occupation of the Middle East are all great examples.

Nevertheless, the US government has been accused of many acts that American’s consider far too controversial to accept, let alone consider. You probably know these claims better as “conspiracy theories.”

Unfortunately, almost anything that challenges the mainstream social, economic, or political narratives are labeled as such and are thus disregarded as false, unimportant, or even dangerous.

No matter how “crazy” some theories may be, not all of them are actually as crazy as they seem… especially the Franklin Coverup.

Chances are high that you’ve never heard of it. Even if you have, you just might learn something new.

This article is both an overview and investigative piece detailing damning evidence that pedophilia and child sex trafficking were present in the highest circles of the US government during the 1980s and onwards.

The Corrupt King

Lawrence E. King was one of the most prominent black Republican figures of the 1980s. Living in Franklin, Nebraska, King etched out a name for himself as both an influential leader and the CEO of the Franklin Credit Union. Additionally, Larry King (as he was more commonly known) also owned a handful of restaurants and bars. These businesses accommodated King’s lavish lifestyle of private jets, extravagant parties, and an entourage of assistants and bodyguards.

However, Larry King had far from an unspotted reputation. Even before he was given the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the 1988 Republican National Convention, King was accused by seven different children of child abuse and prostitution. However, despite this and several petitions to local law enforcement and the FBI, no official investigations were ever launched on these charges.

One of the children, Eulice Washington, even recalled being flown and abused cross-country on King’s private jets.

“Among the first accusers was Eulice Washington, who claimed King flew her to out-of-state pedophilic orgies. She had been adopted by relatives of King’s in the 1970s. Her new ‘mother’ was King’s cousin Barbara Webb, and her new ‘father’ was husband Jarrett Webb, who sat on the board of the Franklin Federal Credit Union. To Eulice Washington, King had been Uncle Larry. ‘Larry King set up the pedophile ring,’ says Eulice. ‘From my knowledge and from what I saw go down, he was the man who got it moving and rolling. Everything went through him. He loves boys. He loves them like he shouldn’t.’” – The Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse and Betrayal

Despite Washington passing numerous lie detector tests, her testimony resulted in nothing. That’s right – nothing. This was only a foreshadowing of things to come.

The Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) was the first organization to come across Washington and the other cases against King. They wrote numerous letters to Nebraska’s Attorney General, Robert Spire, urging for an investigation, but every attempt fell flat. Later, the FCRB testified against King to the State Legislature’s Investigative Executive Review Board Subcommittee in 1988. Still… nothing.

Despite escaping prosecution on child abuse allegations, King’s legal reputation was still found to be questionable. Prior to singing the National Anthem at the 1988 Republican National Convention, King was linked to embezzlement. Finally, in November 1988, an IRS investigation led to him being charged for stealing over $4 million from the Franklin Federal Credit Union. The financial corruption alone shocked the city, but soon, reports and rumors also began to circulate that investigators uncovered a massive stash of child pornography.

…And the kingdom begins to crumble

As a result, more sexual abuse rumors began to surface, with multiple allegations that Larry King was abusing children from Boys Town, the nearby Catholic institution for orphaned youth. His yellow sports car was said to be notoriously spotted on the Boys Town campus.

The Catholic management denied their affiliation with King, but financial records later revealed that Boys Town had a close-knit relationship to the Franklin Federal Credit Union. But just as this was revealed, federal and local authorities immediately moved to close the investigation and seal evidence, claiming that allegations of child abuse were entirely unfounded.

How coincidental! (Read this in a sarcastic tone of voice, this isn’t coincidental – at all)

Later on, authorities backpedaled and insisted they had done everything in their power to investigate these claims. Attorney General Robert Spire said: “We did receive some sensitive information in July. My office acted promptly and professionally and nothing was sat on.” However, it would be revealed that no authorities ever interviewed Eulice Washington or the other children noted by the FCRB until three years after they made their report public. So much for acting “promptly” and “professionally”.

To make matters worse, Omaha Chief of Police, Robert Wadman, stated to the press that “Every step that should have been taken, was taken.” However, Wadman later confessed that he had never contacted Eulice Washington, nor the Child Protective Services department that handled Washington’s claims. Even worse, Wadman would also later be identified by alleged victims as one of the many child abusers who frequented King’s parties.

Systems Built to Fail

In an early police investigation, low-level police officers attempted to keep their inquiries a secret from Wadman, knowing that he would shut down their investigation. Nebraska Foster Care Review Board official, Dennis Carlson, related Omaha Police Officer Carmean’s testimony to the Legislature’s Executive Board hearing:

“[Officer Carmean] told me some things which I found to be somewhat startling. I asked if he was interested in information regarding Larry King and he said, yes we are, we’re conducting what he called a supersensitive investigation of Larry King and he said this investigation was so supersensitive that they were not even using the steno pool in the Omaha Police Department. They were handwriting their police reports, and he also told me that Chief Wadman had come to their unit and directly asked if they were investigating Larry King…. Investigator Carmean told me, we lied to the Chief and we said, no, we are not investigating Larry King. That conversation took place on July 20th of 1988.”

Following this, Officer Carmean was transferred out of the Robbery and Sex unit and the investigation stalled. On July 5, 1989, in a lengthy “Inter-Office Communication” to Omaha Public Safety Director Pitmon Foxall (a cousin of Larry King), Wadman announced that Carmean needed a “mental health evaluation.” ???

A large number of people were unconvinced of the Police Department’s conclusion that there was no substance to the abuse allegations, including a group of 12 state senators. Led by Senator Loran Schmit, these senators chose to form their own commission and investigate the charges independently. Having followed the money trail, Schmit and his team quickly realized they stumbled upon some “dirty laundry.”

“I received a phone call on the floor of the legislature. The caller would not identify himself, but he said, Loren, you do not want to have an investigation of the Franklin Federal Credit Union, and I asked, who am I speaking to? And they said, that doesn’t matter, but you shouldn’t have that investigation. And I said, well, why not? And he said, it will reach the highest levels of the republican party, and we’re both good republicans.” – Loran Schmit

However, Schmit wasn’t the only one to receive threats. The lead investigator of the State Senator’s committee, Gary Caradori, also claimed that he had received a series of threats, one of which being his obviously-tampered-with vehicle. In early July 1990, Caradori made a trip to Chicago to meet with a secret informant who had evidence which would ‘blow the lid’ off the case, and reportedly confided in a friend that he was one step ahead of those who wanted to kill the investigation, saying that if “they” knew what information he had, he would be killed.

Gary Caradori (Right)

Upon returning from Chicago, Caradori’s plane crashed, killing him and his son. The National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that the wreckage was scattered over a radius between 3/4 to 1 mile, conclusively indicating that the plane broke apart in the air instead of upon impact. Within 24 hours, all of the evidence was collected by the FBI and sealed.

Where it leaks, it rusts…

While it might be too far to call it a blatant assassination, it all too coincidental to be a freak accident. But assuming it was an assassination, what information would have been so that the pedophile network would kill the lead investigator in such a public fashion?

Well, it turns out he was meeting with Russell “Rusty” Nelson, a photographer for Larry King, who attended King’s parties. While at King’s parties, he was hired with the intention to photograph powerful men in compromising positions with minors in order to blackmail them.

King was known to throw lavish parties for the Republican elite. Parties with underage prostitutes (allegedly). Rusty Nelson was in hiding for an entire decade after the Franklin Scandal broke, but ended his silence under oath during a court hearing in 1999, in order to “set the record straight.” He revealed that he had a very close relationship with King and kept hundreds of thousands of photographs of King’s business dealings and parties in various locations. Most of the evidence had been confiscated, and more had been destroyed in Gary Caradori’s plane crash.

Rusty’s testimony to the District Court was very interesting. Among other events, he revealed that he personally saw Larry King place a direct call to then-president Ronald Reagan when other associates could not resolve a specific problem. He also claimed to have taken pictures of the Chief of Police of Omaha Robert Wadman at various parties, engaging in sexual acts with minors. Most of Rusty’s evidence was confiscated, but he was able to provide the court with photographs that corroborated his close relationship to King. These were things like photographs of King inside his private jet and limousine, and alongside male strippers. Since then, Rusty has done interviews to shed light on his part in the case.

Despite this, the District Court hearing was not actually about Rusty Nelson, but rather for compensation for one of the victims, Paul Bonacci. Bonacci had first made accusations of abuse against Larry King in 1986, two years prior to there ever even being a “Franklin Scandal.” The testimony given was apparently so convincing that the judge awarded Bonacci with $1 million. The plan was to donate the proceeds to charitable organizations dealing with child abuse, but King never paid.

Paul Bonacci, 1992

Paul Bonacci suffered from Multiple Personality Disorder, a diagnosis confirmed by three different state-appointed psychiatrists, from extreme abuse he had received beginning at the age of 3. At the age of 8, he became associated with Larry King and began attending his parties as a child prostitute.

The type of abuse Bonacci underwent at the hands of Larry King is shocking:

Bonacci: “They put guns up to my head, they put guns in my mouth… Larry King sent out boys, men, to jump me, he had them pretty well beat the tar out of me from the waist down so no one would see the marks, I had my fingers broken… I can remember them burning me with hot instruments… placing stuff inside me… almost what I would call a cattle prod.”

Judge Urbom: “Done by Larry King at his direction?”

Bonacci: “At his direction. If they wanted to get something passed in the legislature, he would put some people that were against it in a compromising position, by using us boys and girls.”

One of the men in Washington that Paul Bonacci claimed abused him is Democratic Senator Barney Frank. Bonacci was also taken as a child on a midnight tour of the White House hosted by Craig Spence, a journalist that Paul Rodriguez wrote about in the Washington Times.

He claimed that, immediately after the tours of the White House, he was taken to another place to be sexually abused.

Digging up the dirt

Before his untimely death, Gary Caradori had supposedly compiled a list of 271 victims of sexual abuse in the Franklin area, though his death prevented most of their interviews, and many others recanted their stories. Therefore, along with Paul Bonacci, the investigation proceeded with three other primary witnesses: Troy Boner, Danny King (of no relation to Larry), and Alisha Owens.

After passing multiple state-sponsored lie detector tests, both Boner and Owens detailed stories of attending hundreds of parties hosted by Larry King where they were abused by King and other prominent men in Lincoln and Omaha. The three would repeatedly corroborate each other in interviews taken under oath by Gary Caradori, initially without knowledge of each other’s participation in the investigation. Most of the victims claimed that they were used to transport drugs across state lines, at the demand of Larry King and Alan Baer, a prominent Omaha millionaire.

Gary Caradori once followed a lead of Alisha Owens where she claimed that she was often abused at The French Cafe in Omaha. He talked to the former manager on the telephone, Sheila McGuire, who told Gary that:

“We had parties in my apartment above the French Cafe. Larry King would wine and dine potential investors downstairs at the Cafe. When the French Cafe closed about 1 AM, King and his man called Parking Lot Bob-who worked for him (and was our coke connection) – would bring people upstairs to my place. If Larry King investors wanted drugs, booze, children or hookers (male or female) we’d get them… One time, when this guy Irv from NYC wanted Sandra who was about 12 or 13 years old and getting her 1st period, Larry intervened when Sandra refused. King pulled out a roll of $100.00 bills and gave Sandra 5 of them. King then pulled out a small gram of coke and gave that to Sandra. Sandra finally agreed and went off to bed with Irv. King took good care of the local and out of town high rollers. If you had the money to invest at Franklin, King would cater to your most deranged perversion. – Conspiracy of Silence (1993)

What happened next is mind-boggling. Instead of indictments against the accused perpetrators, both Douglas County and Federal Grand Juries ordered the thousands of files to be sealed, declined to interview dozens of witnesses, and then brought charges of perjury against Alisha Owens.

Both Grand Juries concluded that Troy Boner and Alisha Owens had indeed been abused, but claimed that the adults they testified against were innocent. Alisha Owens was later found guilty of perjury and sentenced to between 9 and 15 years. She ended up spending two years in solitary confinement, more than any other woman in Nebraska history, and a clear message to other victims: Stay silent.

“This is unprecedented, probably in the history of the United States. If the children are not telling the truth, particularly if they have been abused, they need help, medical attention. You don’t throw them in jail!” – Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber, a lawyer, psychiatrist and nationally prominent specialist on child abuse, during her visit to Nebraska in December 1990.

On the same day that Alisha Owens was convicted of perjury, the charges against Paul Bonacci, who told a very similar story, were dropped. Perhaps they did not want certain testimony to come to trial, such as Bonacci’s claim that Larry King would send limousines to Offutt Air Force Base and pick up CIA agents for his parties.

The Grand Jury trial was a complete mockery and mostly consisted of the state-appointed attorney, Samuel Van Pelt, vigorously attacking the charges and mocking the allegations of the defendants. Although, this isn’t entirely unexpected given the already suspect nature of the trial. To note, a Grand Jury is a special type of proceeding where the attorney chooses all of the witnesses and what evidence is presented; there is no presentation of the defense or cross-examination.

There are shocking irregularities with the Grand Jury proceedings. First, it never called Larry King to testify. In fact, the evidence of child abuse and child pornography has never been presented against King in any court of law. One member of the Douglas County Grand Jury claimed that the Van Pelt helped write the final report, which is illegal.

The report contained some very peculiar statements, such as “children do have the right to expect that if they exhibit reasonable behavior, they will not be abused.” It also contained blatant lies, such as the claim that Paul Bonacci’s doctor said that Bonacci was not capable of the truth, even though not only was the doctor not called to testify, he said elsewhere that he believed Bonacci’s story.

Owen’s attorney, Henry Rosenthal, found that the evidence shown to the Grand Jury was deliberately tampered with. The video testimony taken by Gary Caradori was edited to remove sections where Troy Boner and Alisha Owens corroborated each other’s claims. The lawyer representing originally Owens, Boner and (Danny) King originally claimed to have had over 100 clients who had suffered sexual abuse in relation to King and Boys Town, but then later claimed that their testimonies were all fabrications, only months before admitting she had an affair with an FBI agent who had bullied Troy Boner into temporarily recanting his testimony.

Nail in the Coffin

Troy Boner had recounted his testimony during this period, after receiving threats that he himself would become the victim of perjury charges. However, in 1993 he submitted an affidavit detailing his intimidation and stating unequivocally that his testimony, as well as those of his peers, were truthful.

“I lied because I truly believed and still do believe that it was a situation where I must either ‘…lie or die’ and at the insistence primarily of the Federal Bureau of Investigation officials who were dealing with me at that time…” – Troy Boner’s Affidavit

Boner repeated the allegations that the Chief of Police Robert Wadman and the Omaha Herald editor Harold Andersen were primary players in his abuse and the abuse of his peers. He recounts the various tactics the FBI used in his intimidation, including alluding to harm that may come about to a family member if he persisted in telling his story. Shortly after these threats, Troy’s brother Shawn was found dead from a gunshot wound. The official story was a game of Russian Roulette. Troy cites this as a primary motivating factor in coming forward with the truth in his affidavit.

“But, maybe the most important thing any honest investigator should do is to ask me, Troy Boner, or any of the other kids such as Alisha or Paul Bonacci, to take a polygraph, lie detector tests side by side on the same questions with the people awe are accusing of these things. Example, ask Alan Baer if he shot mainline drugs into me and if he is a major drug dealer and if he had sex with me. Ask Eugene Mahoney if he met me at a bookstore in Council Bluffs and used to regularly pay me to have sex with him as a boy. Ask [redacted] to take a polygraph test on whether he is a big-time drug dealer.” – Troy Boner’s Affidavit

The polygraph tests never happened. In 2004, Troy Boner entered an Omaha hospital visibly shaken and adamant that he was being targeted because of his testimony. The next day, he was found in a hospital room dead, drugged and beaten. The timing might be related to the reelection campaign of George W. Bush, who multiple victims claimed had attended Larry King’s parties. Troy would cap off the list of “suspicious deaths” surrounding the Franklin Coverup reaching 15 names, including:

1. Troy Boner

2. Shawn Boner, Troy’s brother, found shot in the head shortly after Troy was to testify before court. The official explanation of his death was ruled to be a game of “Russian roulette.”

3. Bill Baker, associate of Larry King and alleged to be involved in the production of child pornography.

4. Gary Caradori and his eight-year-old son, Andrew, killed in a plane crash.

5. Newt Copple, a primary informant of Caradori, was 70 when he ‘died in his sleep’ but exhibited no health problems before his death.

6. Clare Howard, the secretary of Alan Baer, the wealthy Omaha businessman who was alleged to be a prime member of the child abuse ring. Also “died in her sleep.”

7. Mike Lewis, former caregiver of victim-witness Loretta Smith. Death attributed to “severe diabetic reaction” at the age of 32.

8. Joe Malek, an associate of King, who died from a gunshot that was ruled a suicide.

9. Aaron Owen, the brother of victim-witness Alisha Owen, died in his jail cell hours before Alisha was supposed to testify, ruled a suicide.

10. Charlie Rodgers, alleged sexual partner of Larry King, died of a shotgun wound to the head, ruled a suicide.

11. Bill Skoleski, Omaha police officer said to be secretly keeping a file on Larry King, died of a heart attack.

12. Kathleen Sorenson, foster parent of children who had escaped the Webb family, and outspoken activist on raising awareness of the abuse of the children she cared for.

13. Curtis Tucker, an associate of Larry King, who allegedly jumped out the window of a Holiday Inn in Omaha.

14. Harmon Tucker, a school superintendent in Omaha

Conspiracy of Silence

One of the craziest parts of this whole case is that, in 1993, a television station in Yorkshire, England traveled to Franklin to uncover the truth on this case and work with the Discovery Channel to broadcast it. The documentary was called “Conspiracy of Silence.” However, the day it was set to air, it was mysteriously pulled. No real explanation has ever been given, but there are rumors that an anonymous person paid the Discovery Channel $500,000 to revoke the television rights to the film.

It would only be unofficially released two years later, when someone who helped produce the video and felt it was so important it needed to be public, leaked a rough draft from the copy room to attorney and former State Senator John DeCamp. It is now available for viewing online, and is a source for much of the information in this article.

Overall, eight high profile Omaha figures would be accused of sexual assault, with testimonies corroborated between victims. They were:

1. Larry King

2. Robert Wadman, Omaha Chief of Police

3. Harold Anderson, retired Editor of the Omaha World-Herald

4. Alan Baer, a wealthy businessman

5. Deward Finch, Superintendent of schools.

6. Peter Citron, media personality

7. Judge Theodore Carson

8. PJ Morgan, Mayor of Omaha

Of these men, only one would be convicted of child abuse, Peter Citron, on an unrelated breakout of pedophilia claims which launched a separate investigation. Before the allegations leading to Citron’s arrest broke, he was threatening to sue John DeCamp for naming him as a child abuser in a memo sent to the Omaha press.

Breaking Silence

You’re probably wondering how you’ve never heard about any of this. Even more, you’re probably asking how something this horrible could be covered up so effectively. Honestly, I’m still wondering the same thing. It’s mind-blowing to consider…

This involved the FBI withholding all sensitive files, including explicit videos and pictures of the relationships between King, his associates, and young children. It involved a campaign of denial by the Omaha Police Department (whose chief was a primary member of the child abuse ring) and a disinformation campaign by Nebraska’s media. It involved zealous FBI agents who were “good friends” with Robert Wadman, and it involved a campaign of suspicious deaths – designed to silence testimony.

Most importantly, it involved an American public unwilling to believe that powerful men could be orchestrating and partaking in child abuse, sex trafficking rings, and child pornography. There’s no question if there was a conspiracy – there was, and there probably still is today.

Maybe it’s time we all look in the mirror.