A Konawaena Middle School teacher facing three counts of sexual assault against a minor off-campus is out on bail again Wednesday after being arrested Tuesday in Oahu on an outstanding $150,000 bench warrant.
John Lee Franks, 43, of Ocean View, was indicted Feb. 23 on two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor and one count of continuous sexual assault of a minor stemming from alleged incidents committed against a girl between November 2021 and mid-February. Court records indicate Franks also goes by the name John Pryor.
According to a charging complaint filed Feb. 17 in District Court, Franks knowingly engaged in “sexual penetration” with a minor female born in 2009, who was less than 14 years old, on Nov. 9, 2021, and Feb. 10 and 14 of this year.
The following day, Feb. 18, bail was reduced to $50,000 and Franks posted the bail with a preliminary hearing set for March 10. The indictment handed down Feb. 23 made the preliminary hearing moot and transferred the charges to Circuit Court for trial.
During his initial appearance Wednesday in Kona Circuit Court, Judge Wendy DeWeese reduced bail back to $50,000, inline with District Court’s decision in February. Franks who pleaded not guilty to the charges again posted bail on Wednesday.
A jury trial has been set for Aug. 9.
Cara Phillips, a communications specialist, with the state Department of Education, said on March 2 that Franks had been placed on leave without pay pending an ongoing investigation by the department.
Franks most recently worked as a student services coordinator at Konawaena Middle School. He was first employed with the department in 2008 as a special education teacher.
According to the department, the alleged offenses did not occur on a public school campus.
All three offenses are Class A felonies, each of which can result in 20 years behind bars if Franks is convicted.
