ALVIN, Texas (KTRK) — A former martial arts and gymnastics instructor will spend 168 months in jail after pleading guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On Feb. 3, Franklin Joseph Perkins, 42, of Alvin, pled guilty to the charge. The case came to light in 2023, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) sounded the alarm about Perkins due to a tip. An investigation was then launched into the allegations.
During that time, investigators found a user with a Google account had uploaded files possibly depicting child sex abuse material onto their servers. That account was later linked to Perkins, and it was also determined he had been using various Google accounts and his cell phone to receive and possess child pornography, according to the release.
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Later, at a hearing, the court listened to additional information related to Perkins’ work as a gymnastics and martial arts instructor who gave teen girls massages, allegedly claiming to be a massage therapist. An investigation into that showed Perkins never had a license to provide such services.
Perkins had also reportedly made a comment about a 13-year-old girl’s body, to which he later gave that same girl alcohol after she turned 14, as well as forced himself on her, the release states.
Perkins will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
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