On Tuesday, Thomas Franklin of 3622 Bird Heights Ave Addis, LA, age 30, pled guilty to Second Degree Cruelty to Juveniles. Franklin was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Leila Braswell, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Keyojuan Turner. This guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors in connection with a 2025 child abuse investigation. 

         On April 12, 2025, juvenile detectives with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital after being notified of a child being treated for injuries consistent with child abuse. Upon arrival, detectives observed the minor child with severe bruising to the head, neck, and facial area. The child also had sustained scratch marks and a burn mark to the body. Detectives traveled back to Ascension Parish where the individuals who reside in the home where the abuse was believed to have occurred were interviewed. Based on these interviews, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Franklin. Franklin was apprehended and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. 

         Upon entering a guilty plea to the above-mentioned charge, pursuant to the plea agreement with prosecutors, Thomas Franklin was sentenced to 10 years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.