Lafayette man accused of beating, then kidnapping his baby mama

Fri, Jan 18, 2013

Lafayette Police arrested a man Thursday and charged him with second-degree kidnapping, domestic abuse battery and theft after he got into a physical altercation with his children’s mother.

According to police, the victim told police that Keithlen Franklin, 24, of Lafayette grabbed her “around the throat area and punched her on the left side of the face.”

The victim also told police that Franklin, after refusing to leave her Carencro residence, took the victim’s cell phone and physically prevented her from leaving home for several hours. He then forced her into a car and drove her to his mother’s house.

The victim alleges that Franklin was upset about certain text messages in her phone.

Franklin told police that the victim was upset because of jokes he made about her. He also told police that the victim injured herself so that police would believe her story.

He was booked in the Lafayette Parish Correction Center with a total bond of $11,500 for the three charges.