Declaration Regarding
Jonathan Scott Franklin
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
I, Melinda Pillsbury-Foster, declare
under penalty of perjury the following account to be a true and
accurate recording of my recollections of Jonathan Scott Franklin, my
step-son, the natural son of my then husband, Alan Craig Franklin
(aka) Craig Franklin and his previous wife, Elaine Brown.
I saw Jonathan Scott Franklin only
rarely before he came to live with us in 1988. I was aware he was a
victim of diabetes, which nearly killed him around 1979 - 1980. My
early experiences with him caused me concern for other reasons.
I observed violent and inappropriate
behavior in Scott on numerous occasions.
Scott visited Craig's parents, then
living in West Los Angeles, and us during the summer of 1987.
Craig's father, now deceased, was Dr. Carl Franklin of University of
Southern California.
My mother was stricken with cancer in
June of that year. Her condition was critical. She was taken to
Stanford to undergo treatments under the care of my sister-in-law,
Dr. Susan Knox. Unfortunately, her condition proved to be
inoperable. She returned home to die. It was an emotionally
wrenching time for all concerned and I now think I overlooked Scott's
behavior far to often.
To spend time with my mother I took the
children and went to the family cabin, located a few miles from the
home to which my parents had retired in Springville, CA in 1972.
Father's career was with the University of California and at the time
of his retirement he was Director of the Water Resources Center for
the University System for California. His name was Dr. Arthur F.
Pillsbury.
Our family was then comprised of my
daughters, Dawn Ellen and Ayn Suzanne, ages 13 and 12 and my sons,
Arthur Edward and Justin Craig, ages 9 and 4. Scott was then 15.
Morgan, my oldest daughter, had been legally adopted by my parents
when she was 12 and so not with us. She was then living in Santa
Barbara with my sister, Anne Gripp, and going to school.
Every other day I would drive to
Springville to see my mother, leaving the children to enjoy the cabin
for a few hours. I was unable to do this after an incident that
raised serious questions in my mind about Scott's sexual morals and
Craig's judgment.
On the day I remained at the cabin I
heard a conversation between Scott and my daughters, who were
upstairs in the cabin. The walls were thin and every word was clear.
Scott relayed to the girls his first sexual experience, a gang rape.
Shocked, I confronted him and called Craig, who was then at work, as
I remember.
Verbally, Craig agreed that Scott's
behavior was highly abnormal and action should be taken. However, he
refused to chastise Scott, sending him back to his mother without
reprimand and without any attempt to ensure any action would be
taken. It was disturbing to observe that neither Scott or Craig
seemed to feel any concern for the girl who had been sexually
violated.
A few months later Scott ran away from
home after, I was told by Craig, having struck his mother.
Reluctantly, I conceded to Craig's demands he be allowed to live with
us.
Scott lived with us until July of 1989.
His behavior was often inappropriate and violent, causing me grave
concern. On one occasion during this period Craig brought up the
subject of children having sex. I told him flatly this was always
inappropriate, no exceptions. He dropped the subject and I did not
identify this as an opening argument directed at my daughters, though
later I realized this was exactly his intention.
I became aware that Craig read
pornography when Dawn, then around 13, evidently unearthed his supply
and took some of these to school with her to loan to friends. I
received a call from the principal asking she meet with myself and
Craig for a conference. At the conference the principal brought out
the magazines and expressed concern for the health of our marriage.
This was a surprise to me.
Later, Dawn told me when she was
identified as the source of the magazines she told the principal she
was concerned about our marriage. She was the only student involved
who was female. She was not suspended for possessing the material,
as were the male students. Craig refused to discuss the matter with
me.
A few months later another incident
took place that caused me grave concern.
One evening I went to the store alone.
Arriving there I realized I had left my check book at home and
returned home to find the house very quiet. Walking through the
rooms I discovered the entire family gathered in the back room.
Craig was there with the kids and when I walked in he glared at me.
I asked what was being discussed and Craig demanded I leave. I
refused.
Craig then battered me into
unconsciousness. The three boys present, Scott, Arthur, and Justin,
called the police who cuffed Craig and placed him in the police car.
When I regained consciousness I was on
my bed with a compress on my head. I was confused, disoriented and
nauseated. I did not remember what had just happened. I asked for
Craig and the police released him. Over the next month the memories
of the incident began to return. Craig apologized for his behavior
but never explained why he wanted to talk to the kids alone.
Over the time Scott lived with us he
abused my other children and the family's pets. All of the children
were afraid of him. He threw Dawn's cat in the pool while the
children were playing. Dawn was badly scratched. Scott did not seem
to have any idea what constituted appropriate behavior. I believe
Craig was substantially responsible for what I saw evidenced in
Scott. Attempts to communicate these concerns to Craig and his family
failed utterly. I saw no concern in any of Craig's siblings or in
his father. Craig's mother died in 1991.
Talking to Scott I was often concerned
about his private conversations with Craig. Scott's behavior seemed
to be impacted when these exchanges took place. Craig refused to
discuss these with me. I was bewildered and did not know what to
think.
Craig and I had been married privately
in 1987. In June of 1989 we had a larger wedding celebration to
please Craig. Craig had also wanted a honeymoon. I had planned an
itinerary and arranged for an adult to remain with the children in
our absence.
While we were away on our honeymoon we
received a call at our hotel in Venice, Italy demanding we return
home because Scott had attempted to strangle my oldest daughter,
Morgan. Scott was unrepentant, according to those present. Dawn
stopped the assault using a martial arts technique she had learned.
Scott ran away again, this time back
east. His grandfather, Dr. Franklin, and his uncle, Sterling
Franklin, both attorneys, refused to take his assault on Morgan
seriously and wanted him to remain with us. I refused.
Scott went to live with Craig's sister,
Priscilla Franklin, in Pasadena. From there he graduated high school
and went on to college. I heard from Craig about problems he was
having but have no direct knowledge of what was happening.
Prior to the wedding Craig had made out
a last will and testament, naming all of our children as his natural
heirs. This had been his wish. My former husband, their biological
father, had agreed and signed a document giving up his parental
rights. (See will, giving up rights.)
Around 1995 Scott and I started talking
again. His behavior seemed to have stabilized and he was going to
college. Over a two years period I began to trust him and helped him
with a non-profit he was starting while at the same time clearing up
the problems caused by Craig's non-filing of his taxes. Craig had
never filed before although his becoming and remaining compliant had
been a condition of our marriage.
In 1997 I suffered my second heart
attack and was busy caring for my oldest son, Arthur, then 19.
Arthur had suffered a major brain injury in September of 1997 and
nearly died. Craig was apparently angry I was spending my time at
the hospital. After leaving, Craig shamelessly manipulated Arthur in
attempts to get him to leave my care and so lower the support I would
potentially receive. As a result Arthur shot himself through the
brain. He did not die. I remain his caretaker today and have
received no assistance from Craig, or Ron Foster, Arthur's biological
father.
By 1998 I had solved the problems with
Craig's taxes. We were completely out of debt and solvent for the
first time.
In 1997 Scott became engaged and I met
his fiancée, now his wife, Kathy. I offered to make the dresses for
the bride's maids and Kathy accepted, gratefully. After Craig left
me in January of 1998 Scott claimed Craig was not helping him because
he, Scott, did not approve of the divorce. Scott continually called
me asking for financial help during this period. I learned this was
not true. Scott was simply trying to deplete my funds so I would be
forced to settle.
I was also told later by Morgan that
they believed they could cause me to have a heart attack since I had
suffered two attacks previously. Scott was aware Craig had decided
to leave me sometime in December and was accepting money to report to
Craig on what I said and insert disinformation with me, according to
Morgan.
I discovered after Craig left that he
had been exposing himself to my daughters for years. Ayn mentioned
this and so did Morgan. Craig attempted to seduce both by their
reports. I was shocked and disgusted.
In 2004 a private investigator found
incest pornography in Craig's trash while trying to discover his
address for service of papers. The name of the investigator is Steve
Rauch. His last phone number in my records was 805 967-5780, email
pryveteye@aol.com.
I still have the scans of the front and index of the magazine and
can supply those and other items which were in the same bag.
While we were married Craig told me his
first sexual arousal was with his sister, Priscilla, when she was 12.
He was then 16.
Over the years I knew and observed
Scott I noticed his ability to justify doing whatever he wanted. In
this he is much like Craig. While Scott is responsible for his own
decisions I appreciate the difficulties he faced in having Craig for
a father, especially with Craig's family of origin.
While Craig and I were still married,
around 1994 – 1995, his brother Larry, an attorney married and
living in Hong Kong, had a confrontation with their sister Priscilla
over the sexual abuse she claimed to have suffered at his hands when
they shared a room together as children. I overheard these
conversations. While I can express no positive knowledge of what
happened I believed Priscilla because her description of Larry's
attempts to destroy her credibility with their parents are typical of
abusers.
Around 2003 I began to receive emails
from a woman who identified herself as a friend of Craig's. Those
emails are included “Molasses Crinkle” sent her cell phone
number but I have never talked to her. We did exchange emails.
I was struck by the behaviors exhibited
by Scott because there are so many parallels with Craig's behavior
and that of his brothers and father. All the men I met in Craig's
family are extremely controlling and manipulative. All chose to
ignore abusive behavior, such as that exhibited by Scott when he was
young. All expressed a sense that they were privileged and not to be
held to the standards usual for civil society.
I include contact information for each
of the children who were over around 6 then below so you can
independently interview them.
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