Former Santa Rosa youth counselor sentenced in molest case

A Santa Rosa youth counselor and Cub Scout leader who molested a boy over a three-year period was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison.

Franklin Lee, 40, admitted molesting the boy, a family friend, from 2008 to 2010, when the boy was 12 to 15-years-old.

Lee videotaped their numerous sexual encounters and took nude photos, according to a probation report.

Lee was a counselor at a Seneca Family of Agencies facility in the Bay Area and was a leader of Sebastopol Cub Scout pack No. 128. The victim was not connected to either of the groups but prosecutors suggested Lee used his positions to gain the family’s trust.

“It was a horrible crime,” prosecutor Chris Honigsberg told Judge Robert LaForge in arguing for a stiffer sentence.

Probation officials sought a sentence of more than 18 years, but LaForge reduced it by four years because Lee admitted the allegations without a trial.

But LaForge said the abuse was damaging to the boy, now 18, who wrote a letter to the court asking for the maximum punishment.

“It’s clear from the letter you ruined the victim’s life,” LaForge said.

Lee didn’t speak at his sentencing but said in his own letter that he is remorseful.

The victim, who attended the hearing with his mother and others, declined through a private lawyer to discuss the outcome.

He has filed a civil lawsuit against Lee seeking unspecified damages.

Lee met the boy through his mother when the boy was 5 years old, a probation report said.

His parents were going through a difficult divorce and Lee was to provide a “safe place” for the boy and his siblings, the report said.

Lee developed a friendship with the boy, taking him on camping trips, to Marine World and to San Francisco, the report said.

Sexual advances began when the boy was 12 after Lee began paying for his Taekwondo lessons, the report said.

Lee threatened to stop paying for the lessons if the boy did not comply with his wishes, the report said.

By 14, the boy was spending the night at Lee’s house three to five times a week and had sex with him each time, the report said.

Police were informed of the abuse by a school counselor earlier this year, the report said.

A search of Lee’s Yulupa Avenue apartment turned up four DVDs containing recordings of him and the boy engaged in sex acts, the report said. Officers also found dozens of other discs containing child pornography, it said.

Lee said he previously worked at various facilities providing services to disabled adults, including Becoming Independent, where he was a supervisor for five years, and B&J Residential Homes.

He was banned from participating in scouting within days of his arrest.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.