Description:

Review

The Franklin Cover-Up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska by John W. DeCamp is an incendiary first-person account from a former Nebraska state senator and Vietnam veteran who found himself drawn into what he presents as one of the most disturbing scandals in American political history. Originally published in 1992 and updated in a second edition with substantial new material, the book documents DeCamp's involvement in the investigation of child abuse allegations connected to the Franklin Community Federal Credit Union in Omaha, Nebraska, whose manager, Lawrence E. "Larry" King Jr., was a prominent Republican Party activist.

DeCamp writes as both eyewitness and participant. He was a sitting state senator when the Franklin Credit Union was raided in 1988, revealing some $40 million missing. What began as a financial scandal quickly evolved into something far darker, as children began coming forward with allegations of organized sexual abuse, drug trafficking, pornography, and ritual violence perpetrated by prominent Nebraska businessmen, politicians, and law enforcement officials. The book meticulously traces how, at every stage, these allegations were suppressed by the very institutions charged with investigating them — from the Omaha Police Department to the FBI, from county prosecutors to federal grand juries.

The book's greatest strength is its documentary approach. DeCamp reproduces police reports, legislative testimony, investigative memos, interview transcripts, and sworn statements at extraordinary length, allowing readers to evaluate the primary source evidence directly. The testimony of victim-witnesses Alisha Owen, Troy Boner, Danny King, and Paul Bonacci — documented in investigator Gary Caradori's meticulous files — forms the evidentiary backbone. The corroborations between independently obtained accounts from different children across different years are striking and difficult to dismiss.

Structurally, Part I covers the Franklin scandal itself: the initial reports from foster children in the Webb household dating to 1985, the Omaha Police Department's stalled investigations, the Nebraska Legislature's special committee, Caradori's videotaped testimony from victims, the Douglas County grand jury's infamous "carefully crafted hoax" finding, and the perjury conviction of Alisha Owen. DeCamp also devotes a substantial chapter to the parallel financial scandal surrounding the Commonwealth Savings Bank collapse under Governor Bob Kerrey's administration, arguing that the overlapping cast of characters demonstrates how deeply corruption had penetrated Nebraska's political establishment. Part II, added in the second edition, updates the story through the mid-1990s, including the suppression of the Yorkshire Television documentary Conspiracy of Silence, Troy Boner's affidavit reasserting his original testimony after having been pressured to recant, and DeCamp's successful million-dollar civil rights judgment on behalf of Paul Bonacci.

The foreword sets the tone memorably: former CIA Director William Colby, DeCamp's longtime friend and mentor, warns him to step away from the case because "sometimes there are forces and events too big, too powerful, with so much at stake for other people or institutions, that you cannot do anything about them, no matter how evil or wrong they are and no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have." Colby then shares his own private victory parade — an unguarded midnight walk through Red Square after forty years of Cold War — as a lesson about the difference between the victories we want and the ones we get.

The book has significant weaknesses that should be acknowledged. DeCamp's narrative voice oscillates between careful legal documentation and conspiratorial overreach, particularly in the second edition's chapters on the Oklahoma City bombing, the LaRouche case, and the Montana militia movement, which feel tangential and undermine the focused power of the core Franklin material. His extended autobiographical passages about Nebraska banking politics, while contextually relevant, test the reader's patience. And some of the most extreme allegations — particularly those involving ritual murder and satanic ceremonies — remain uncorroborated by physical evidence, relying entirely on victim testimony, however detailed and however consistent across multiple witnesses.

What elevates the book above mere conspiracy literature is the trail of verifiable facts: the suspicious deaths of at least fifteen people connected to the case; the transfer of investigating officer Irl Carmean and Chief Wadman's attempt to have him declared mentally unfit; the suppression of the Yorkshire documentary through cable industry pressure; the $10 million FirsTier Bank settlement with the National Credit Union Association revealed through FOIA; the Nebraska Supreme Court's expungement of the Douglas County grand jury report for violating all laws relating to such proceedings; and the eventual million-dollar judgment against Larry King in Paul Bonacci's civil rights case. These are matters of public record.

The emotional center of the book is its portraits of those who refused to back down: Alisha Owen, who served more prison time than Larry King for refusing to recant her testimony; Paul Bonacci, whose detailed accounts were corroborated by forensic psychiatrists including Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber; Senator Loran Schmit, who was financially ruined and politically destroyed; and Gary Caradori, who died with his eight-year-old son in a plane crash that was never adequately explained, just days after telling Schmit "We've got them! There's no way they can get out of it now!" The chapter on foster mother Kathleen Sorenson, who spoke publicly about what abused children had told her and died in a head-on car collision shortly after, is particularly chilling.

The epilogue's meditation on Herman Melville's Billy Budd — suggested to DeCamp by a judge who acknowledged the injustice but felt powerless to stop it — provides a haunting interpretive framework. The "system" will sacrifice the innocent to preserve itself, not because every individual within it is evil, but because the system is "the only ultimate sacred cow." Whether one accepts all of DeCamp's claims or not, The Franklin Cover-Up remains a deeply unsettling document about what happens when allegations of abuse by the powerful meet the institutional imperative to look away.

Reviewed 2026-03-26

Notable Quotes

What you have to understand, John, is that sometimes there are forces and events too big, too powerful, with so much at stake for other people or institutions, that you cannot do anything about them, no matter how evil or wrong they are and no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have. That is simply one of the hard facts of life you have to face.

Former CIA Director William Colby warning DeCamp to abandon the Franklin investigation for his own safety — power, institutional corruption, limits of justice, self-preservation

Sometimes there are forces too powerful for us to whip them individually, in the time frame that we would like. We have to keep working at our goal. But we have to be sensible enough, not to risk everything and get ourselves destroyed or killed in the process. That victory we seek may take much longer than we wanted, and come in ways we never anticipated.

Colby's advice to DeCamp, drawing on his experience watching the Soviet Union collapse from within — patience, strategy, long-term justice, prudence

Then it struck me like a ton of bricks: It was over. Here was the head of the CIA, once hated and feared by the Soviet Union, wandering unwatched and unguarded around Red Square, after spending the previous week meeting with their leaders, trying to help them save themselves from economic collapse and political revolution. And nobody cared.

Colby describing his midnight walk through Red Square as his only victory parade after forty years of Cold War — victory, anti-climax, history, the Cold War

Accusations of child abuse are the worst accusations you can make against an individual. That is because, no matter what the truth of the matter, once the accusation is made, it will never be able to be rubbed completely off, even if the individual accused is as innocent and pure as can be.

DeCamp's legal counsel to Senator Schmit about the gravity of pursuing the Franklin investigation — child abuse, false accusations, legal caution, reputation

If even half of what I have heard is true, this is the biggest thing to ever hit Nebraska.

Investigator Gary Caradori to his wife Sandie, early in his work for the Legislature's Franklin committee — investigation, scale of corruption, discovery

We've got them! There's no way they can get out of it now!

Caradori's last phone call to Senator Schmit about new evidence, days before he and his son died in a plane crash — investigation, breakthrough, tragic irony, suspicious death

There were a lot of people in this state who wanted to see Gary dead. They got their wish. The question to be answered is whether it was a coincidence.

Senator Schmit's statement to reporters on the morning of Gary Caradori's death — suspicious death, political courage, investigation

I felt that I could call anyone in this city.

Larry King's response when asked if he had the access to call the Chief of Police and get evidence released from custody — power, corruption, access, impunity

If you mess with him, you'll get your legs broken.

What people in north Omaha told Boys Town social worker Julie Walters when she asked about Larry King — intimidation, community silence, fear, power

On the outside he has all the appearances of an upstanding citizen; but underneath he's very dirty.

Community member's description of Larry King to Boys Town social worker Julie Walters during her investigation — appearances, duality, hidden corruption

Don't go. Nebraska is death-laced.

A New York State Police member's warning to Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber before her trip to Nebraska to investigate the Franklin case — danger, intimidation, suspicious deaths

My statements are true. I'll never, never change my story. The truth is the truth.

Alisha Owen during her perjury trial, refusing to recant her testimony about abuse by prominent Nebraskans — courage, truth-telling, perseverance under pressure

I couldn't change my story when the FBI asked me to, because I can look into the mirror and know I am telling the truth. Children ask for justice, while adults plead for mercy. Your honor, I stand before you here today and I ask for justice.

Alisha Owen's statement at her sentencing hearing after being convicted of perjury — justice, courage, institutional failure, children's rights

Somebody has to tell the story, and it might as well be me.

Paul Bonacci's introduction to his written account of the abuse he suffered, prepared for his lawyer DeCamp — testimony, courage, bearing witness, victim advocacy

I'm a 23 year old man who loves God and wants to do the right thing to prevent other children from being abused. I'm against anyone harming a child in any way. I'm only wanting to see the men stopped from hurting others. They can kill me. I'm ready to die for what's right. If by my death I can prevent a child from being abused, I'd do it.

Paul Bonacci in a letter from prison to a friend about his determination to continue testifying — sacrifice, faith, justice, protecting children

The first human defense mechanism against untenable horrific facts is to say that they don't exist.

Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber testifying before the Senate Franklin committee about why people refuse to believe child abuse testimony — denial, psychology, child abuse, institutional blindness

No one person could have masterminded this without the compliance and the acquiescence and cooperation of a number of people, some of whom had to be in official positions.

Senator Schmit warning the Franklin committee about the scope of what they would encounter — institutional corruption, complicity, systemic abuse

What Larry King is doing is the tip of an iceberg and he's not in it by himself. One thing I told the Attorney General is that I don't want Larry King to commit suicide and I don't want any accidents that will take him out.

Senator Ernie Chambers expressing concern that King would be silenced before the full scope of the scandal could be exposed — witness protection, political corruption, cover-up

When King entertained, it was a hot ticket. Virtually every high-ranking black member of the Reagan Administration had been out to lunch, over for drinks, or at a dinner party. The food and drink were first rate, as was the mix of people—black, white, Republican, Democrat, young, old.

A public relations man hired by Larry King describing King's Washington D.C. parties off Embassy Row, where the emphasis was on the young — political access, bipartisan corruption, networking, hidden abuse

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.

DeCamp quoting Benjamin Franklin to illustrate how the Omaha World-Herald's control of Nebraska's press enabled the cover-up — press freedom, censorship, democracy, institutional power

We assume from their choice of words—carefully crafted hoax—that the Grand Jury was persuaded that the testimony of the witnesses corroborated each other, and included facts and circumstances which were readily verifiable and attested to by other witnesses. Otherwise, it could not be logically deemed 'carefully crafted.' If it was carefully crafted, who crafted it and when?

The legislative Franklin committee's official response to the grand jury report, pointing out its logical contradiction — logic, institutional accountability, cover-up, grand jury

Oh God, forgive me. They guaranteed if I talk here today, they will put me away for twenty years. Guaranteed I would never see the light of day again. Told me that I would be charged with perjury for my original testimony, if I opened my mouth today in court.

Troy Boner whispering to DeCamp in the courthouse after being cornered and threatened by prosecutors before he could testify at Alisha Owen's hearing — witness intimidation, fear, institutional coercion, cover-up

I do not understand it, Your Honor. As God is my witness, I do not think that there is a judge or other person involved in this case who does not know that horrible injustice has been done. Everybody knows that Alisha Owen is telling the truth and that she is being punished for it.

DeCamp's plea to Judge Enbody in chambers after Troy Boner was intimidated into invoking the Fifth Amendment — institutional failure, justice denied, despair, truth suppressed

I am just a man. I am not a god. I wish I were. I have no choice in what I have done. I am just a man, just a man, not a god.

Judge Enbody's response to DeCamp, before directing him to read Billy Budd to understand why the system sacrifices the innocent — powerlessness, institutional constraints, moral anguish, judicial limits

If you want to understand the entire Franklin case, I can help you. Go read Billy Budd. If you will do that, John, and if you understand the book, then you will understand the what and why of Franklin, and why it can be no other way.

Judge Enbody's final words to DeCamp, comparing the Franklin case to Melville's story of an innocent man hanged to preserve the system — institutional self-preservation, sacrifice of innocents, literary allegory, systemic corruption

Protect the 'system' at all costs. The 'system' is the only ultimate sacred cow—not any particular law or constitution, but only 'the system.' Because, ultimately, it is the system which makes certain that the individuals functioning within it—from judges to lawyers, to prosecutors, to politicians, to businessmen—have their places and positions, and opportunities and pecking order, and future.

DeCamp's final understanding of the Franklin case after reading Billy Budd, as directed by Judge Enbody — institutional self-preservation, systemic corruption, the nature of power, justice vs. order