Republican state superintendent candidate Robert Franklin grabbed a 12-year-old special needs child with enough force to leave long scratches on the sides of his head at a camp in 2014, a revelation that has prompted opponent James Taylor to call for his withdrawal ahead of the Aug. 25 runoff.
“I am the bad guy that put those on there,” Franklin said in a voicemail apparently saved by the mother of the child and released this week. “He was really, really having a rough day yesterday, and I was the one who — when I got a moment with him and was working with him really, really hard — I got right in his face, got hold of his ears, and my nails got him in the back of the ear. So that is my fault, and I am completely sorry. And that is absolutely not what was intended.”
In the voicemail, Franklin said the child’s counselors “did a great job with him,” although they “did get whacked around a little bit at the beginning.”
The audio surfaced Wednesday in an X post by LibsOfTikTok, but the allegation surfaced in March when Brandi Sharp Willimon made a Facebook post about the incident.
“I implore everyone reading this, do not vote for this man. He ran a special needs camp for many years called Make Promises Happen, near Guthrie. [My son] attended this camp in fall 2014. He came home with very deep gouges behind both ears — and as most of you know, [my son] is non-verbal, so I assumed finding out who did this to him was going to be impossible,” Willimon wrote. “But almost right away, Robert arrogantly let me know that [my son] was out of sorts, ‘so I had to get him by the ears and really get in his face.’ He was absolutely not phased by assaulting a 12-year-old, profoundly disabled child. He was proud of it! This man has very explosive anger issues, to say the very least. He should never be in charge of making decisions for children. The camp acknowledged what he did and sent him for ‘re-education.’ As seasoned as he was at his job, it never should have happened.”
NonDoc messaged Willimon about her post Monday — and again Thursday after the audio and photos surfaced online — but she did not respond prior to the publication of this article.
Franklin founded the camp in 1986, and he released a statement late Wednesday acknowledging the incident. Franklin said he was trying to defuse the situation but that he regrets the way it ended.
“Keeping children safe is always the top priority. This young man was struggling to manage his emotions and interactions. He had just hurt a few counselors, was throwing rocks at others and was displaying aggressive behavior. It was a moment where volunteers were struggling to intervene,” Franklin said. “In an attempt to intervene to ensure safety and calm the situation, I put myself between him and others, pulled him in and told him to stop. He pulled away and my nail scratched behind his ear, which was the last thing I would have wanted. Alas, I acknowledge and own my actions in this moment and wish it would have resolved differently.”
Taylor: ‘This hits close to home’
Make Promises Happen is a camp run by Twin Cedars. The organization’s executive director, Jon Cunningham, said in a statement that camp leadership was informed of the incident in 2014.
“In the fall of 2014, leadership at what was then known as Central Christian Camp was informed of an incident involving Robert Franklin while he was attempting to de-escalate a camper to prevent harm to campers and volunteers. Camp leadership took swift and appropriate action,” Cunningham said. “The safety and well-being of our campers, volunteers and staff has always been our highest priority and we remain committed to providing a safe, respectful environment for everyone in our camp community.”
Twin Cedars’ website describes Make Promises Happen as a camp “dedicated to providing outdoor recreational opportunities for individuals, ages 6 and older, with any physical or intellectual disability.”
In Oklahoma and around the country, ongoing debate has heightened conversations about how to discipline children with special needs. In 2025, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law eliminating the ability for parents to grant schools permission to use corporal punishment on students with disabilities.
In 2017, Oklahoma Watch reported on the use of seclusion rooms in Oklahoma schools and noted that students with special needs are often placed in such confinement. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance on disciplining students with special needs. The guidance said that seclusion and restraint practices and the use of physical force to restrain children could “constitute disability discrimination,” EdWeek reported. EdWeek noted that physically escorting a child by temporarily holding their arms, wrists, hands, shoulders or back to move them to a safe location is not considered a restraint under the guidance.
In his statement this week, Franklin also addressed the political dynamics surrounding the situation.
“This is an unfortunate moment being used as an affront from detractors and political adversaries who have shown us they have no experience in leading organizations or schools and have no real solution to fix and support our students, parents, or schools,” Franklin said.
Since starting his campaign in March, Franklin has touted his experience with special education and has been lauded by many educators. He and Little Axe High School history teacher and pastor James Taylor advanced to the Aug. 25 runoff for state superintendent of public instruction by finishing atop a seven-candidate field in June.
In a statement Thursday, Taylor called for Franklin to withdraw from the race.
“This race has always been about Oklahoma’s children. Too many families have lost confidence that the system will protect their children and put their needs first. Oklahoma deserves leadership that prioritizes accountability, transparency and the safety of every student. Our children deserve nothing less,” Taylor said. “As the father of a nonverbal son with special needs, this hits close to home. My heart breaks for [the child] and his family. Not only did Robert Franklin fail [the child], our education system did. That is why I am calling on Robert Franklin to immediately withdraw from the race and make this right.”
Ahead of the runoff, Taylor and Franklin are set to participate in a televised debate on 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13 at the Cameron University Theater in Lawton. In-person seating is available by RSVP.
