Texas Man Gets More Than 1,000 Years in Prison for Sexually Abusing 2 Girls

A Central Texas man has been sentenced to more than 1,000 years in prison — on top of two life terms — after being convicted of sexually abusing two young girls for years.Robert Benjamin Franks, 48, of San Marcos was convicted Monday on 17 counts. A Hays County jury sentenced him to life for each of two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child, 99 years for each of nine counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and 20 years for each of six counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact.In addition to the two life sentences plus 1,011 years in prison, Franks was ordered to pay a fine of $93,000.Franks was arrested in June 2016 when one of the victims, a 9-year-old girl, told her father that he had been doing "disgusting things" to her and a 10-year-old girl, the San Antonio Express-News reported.The other girl initially denied having been abused but later told authorities that Franks had assaulted her for years."Words cannot really express the depth of the betrayal and outrage warranted by conduct like this, committed by a man who should have been caring for and protecting these children," Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau said in a statement. "The jury's sentence speaks more eloquently than I can to make clear how our community feels about crimes like these."  Continue reading...