Ex-Sebastopol Cub Scout leader pleads no contest in molest case

A Santa Rosa man faces more than 18 years in prison after pleading no contest Thursday to five counts of molestation.|
PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A former Sebastopol Cub Scout leader pleaded no contest Thursday to five counts of child molestation in a deal with prosecutors that could lead to a more than 18-year prison sentence.

Franklin Lee, 40, of Santa Rosa was accused of molesting a boy from 2008 to 2012. The victim was not a member of Cub Scout Pack 128 in Sebastopol, police said. However, Lee was immediately relieved of his duties by the Redwood Empire Council of Boy Scouts of America and was hit with a lifetime ban from scouting.

Lee was arrested near his Yulupa Avenue home in March after a short investigation. Among the charges are continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 years old, oral copulation and sodomy.

Under the terms of his plea, prosecutors would dismiss charges of possessing and producing child pornography.

His sentencing was set for Nov. 3.

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