Franklinton Man Found Guilty of Raping Two Children

District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on May 22, 2025, a Washington Parish jury returned guilty verdicts against 56-year-old Shannon Polkey of Franklinton after deliberating for just over an hour.  Polkey was convicted of two counts of first-degree rape of children under the age of thirteen, one count of sexual battery of a child under the age of thirteen, and one count of failure to register as a sex offender.  Assistant District Attorney Zachary Popovich with the Special Victims Unit and Assistant District Attorney Casey Allen presented the case to the jury with Judge William H. Burris presiding over the 4-day trial.  Captain Corbet Hunt with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office was the lead detective on the case, with Special Victim’s Unit Investigator Anna Thomas with the District Attorney’s Office contributing invaluable assistance leading up to and during the trial.

According to trial testimony, the victims, a young brother and sister, voluntarily left their mother’s custody in Pike County, Mississippi when their mother lost her home in the summer of 2019. The children were taken in by the defendant, his wife, and his daughter in Franklinton. The victims remained in the care of the defendant’s family from the summer of 2019 through April, 2022. While at the defendant’s home, the children were physically and verbally abused. They testified to being struck with paddles, being forced to kneel on air conditioner vents on the floor, and being forced to stand for extended periods of time with their foreheads pressed against a wall.

On the witness stand, the male victim, who was between the ages of 8 and 10 while living in the defendant’s home, graphically described sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of the defendant. He described the defendant committing a sexual battery by touching him inappropriately and he also described being repeatedly forced to his knees to perform a sexual act on the defendant whenever the other adults in the house were away. He further described very specific threats the defendant would make to him in order to compel his silence.

The male victim and his younger sister, who was between the ages of 7 and 9 while living in the defendant’s home, both disclosed how the defendant would sexually abuse them together. They testified to the fact that the defendant would force the female victim to perform a sexual act on her brother while the defendant watched. The victims described feelings of helplessness and overwhelming fear over the things the defendant repeatedly forced them to do.

During the trial, the jury heard from the guidance counselor at the Washington Parish school that the victims attended during the time period of the abuse. She described a meeting she had with the male victim in April of 2022, when he, for the first time, courageously disclosed the fact that he was being sexually abused. Immediately following the outcry, the counselor contacted the Department of Children and Family Services, which began an investigation and referred the case to law enforcement.

The jury heard testimony from lead Detective Corbet Hunt, as well as a forensic interviewer with the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Hope House. With the forensic interviewer on the witness stand, the jury was able to see each victim’s recorded forensic interview, which depicted the first time either of victims had discussed the defendant’s crimes in detail.

Testifying as an expert witness, a forensic nurse practitioner with the Morgan Rae Center for Hope (formerly Audrey Hepburn CARE Center) at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans explained to the jury how children who have suffered long-term sexual abuse often process and disclose trauma as well as the effects this type of trauma has on children.

Additionally, the jury learned that the defendant was convicted of forcible rape of a juvenile in 1987 in Washington Parish. He received a sentence of 15 years in prison. That conviction also carried a requirement that the defendant register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

Not only did the jury learn of the defendant’s prior conviction, but they also had an opportunity to hear about the abuse and long-term effects of the trauma first-hand. Now an adult, the victim of his prior conviction bravely testified to the horrific sexual abuse and rapes she suffered at the hands of the defendant nearly 40 years ago.

Finally, the jury saw evidence that the defendant had lived for years in Franklinton, Louisiana but had only registered as a sex offender in Mississippi, intentionally concealing his residence in Franklinton from law enforcement. Ultimately, Detective Corbet Hunt traveled to the address listed on the defendant’s Mississippi Sex Offender Registration paperwork in Tylertown, Mississippi. At the location, Detective Hunt found an uninhabitable, run-down trailer that lacked electricity and running water. The jury heard overwhelming evidence that while registered in Mississippi, the defendant was actually living in Franklinton and failed to notify the community of his presence.

Image on left is of Shannon Brady Polkey on the State of Mississippi Sex Offender Registry website.

After the jury’s guilty verdicts, Judge Burris remanded Polkey to jail pending sentencing which is set for July 21, 2025. First degree rape carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Sexual battery of a child under age thirteen carries a sentence of 25 to 99 years in prison. Failure to register as a sex offender carries a sentence of two to ten years in prison.