Olivia Burke

Published 8:16, 21 February 2024 GMT
| Last updated 8:16, 21 February 2024 GMT

A former family vlogger has been given the maximum prison sentence for child abuse.

Ruby Franke, a mother who found YouTube fame with her channel ‘8 Passengers’, was handed the punishment in court on Tuesday (20 February) alongside her business partner and mental healthcounsellor Jodi Hildebrandt, 54.

The pair both pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in December following their arrests in August last year after one of Franke’s children alerted neighbours in the city of Ivins in Utah, US.

Franke, 42, also confessed that she and Hildebrandt had forced her son to endure hours of physical labour in the scorching summer heat without sunscreen and with little food and water, which resulted in severe sunburn and dehydration.

The court in Utah heard how the mum, who had more than 2 million subscribers at her peak on YouTube, tried to convince her youngest children that they were ‘evil and possessed’ and needed to ‘repent’.

According to state prosecutor Eric Clarke, Franke’s nine-year-old and 11-year-old were living in a ‘concentration camp-like setting’, adding: “The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment.”

In her plea agreement, Hildebrandt said she was either complicit in the abuse subjected on the children or was aware of it taking place, while admitting she forced Franke’s youngest daughter to ‘jump into a cactus multiple times’ as well as walking barefoot on dirt roads until her feet blistered.

Franke sobbed as she was sentenced in court on Tuesday and apologised to her six children, saying she would ‘never stop crying for hurting their tender souls’.

She said: “My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. 

“I took from you all that was soft and safe and good.”

“I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong,” Franke continued to say.

“I was led to believe that this world was an evil place, filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect and children who need abuse.”

After pleading guilty as part of plea deals, Franke and Hildebrandt were sentenced to serve four terms of 1 to 15 years behind bars for each of the second-degree felony aggravated child abuse charges they admitted to, meaning they could both spend a maximum of 60 years in prison.

The sentences, which are the maximum for each count under Utah law, will run consecutively, but the exact time that the pair will have to serve will be determined at a later date by the state’s parole board.

Franke’s ex-husband, Kevin Franke, has filed for divorce and asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed on her while describing her actions towards their children as ‘horrific and inhumane’.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/moms_of_truth

Topics: Crime, Parenting, YouTube, US News, News

handed maximum prison sentence

Joshua Nair

Published 11:50, 21 February 2024 GMT
| Last updated 12:05, 21 February 2024 GMT

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing

Ruby Franke has been given the maximum prison sentence after being found guilty of abusing her children.

The YouTube-famous mum was convicted on Tuesday, 20 February, alongside business partner and mental health counsellor Jodi Hildebrandt.

Both mothers were sentenced to serve four terms of 1 to 15 years behind bars for each of the second-degree felony aggravated child abuse charges they admitted to.

This means they could serve up to 60 years in prison.

Franke and Hildebrandt were first arrested in August 2023 after one of Franke’s children escaped her house and alerted a neighbour in Utah, US.

The former’s downfall began in 2020, and it has resulted in her conviction four years, but how did this all unfold?

Starting a YouTube channel and initial suspicions

Franke started her parenting YouTube channel ‘8Passengers’ with now ex-husband Kevin, amassing over 2.5 million subscribers before it was deleted in 2023 following the arrest.

Several subscribers became suspicious of child abuse, with a petition being signed for the police to investigate the family, citing the numerous questionable videos uploaded.

Examples of this include Ruby taking her son’s bed away for pulling a prank, and not letting her six-year-old daughter eat lunch at school after she forgot to pack it as a lesson saying ‘she’s just going to need to be hungry’, all while laughing.

Franke joins ConneXions with Jodi Hildebrandt

The mum told critics in a 2021 interview for The Wrap that she was showing everyone ‘what a responsible mother looks like’.

She stopped uploading videos to the channel in 2022, joining Mormon therapist Hildebrandt’sConneXions podcast.

Their divisive opinions on subjects such as eating disorders, blaming rape victims and criticising immigrants drew the wrong kind of attention.

The arrest 

Local news outlet KUTV News reported that Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested on child abuse charges in August last year.

The Santa Clara Public Safety Department were called to the Ivins neighbourhood in Utah after a neighbour was alerted by Franke’s ’emaciated’ 12-year-old son, who escaped to knock on their door to ask for help.

He had visible marks and wounds from duct tape put around his ankles, and asked for some food and water.

Police found his 10-year-old sister in a ‘similar physical condition of malnourishment’ in Hildebrandt’s house.

Child protective services took the kids, along with their two teenage siblings.

Family members speak out

Franke’s oldest daughter, Shari, wrote on Instagram on the day of the arrests: “Today has been a big day.”

The 20-year-old continued: “Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We’ve been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up.”

Franke’s sisters also came out in support of the arrest, posting on social media: “For the last 3 years we have kept quiet on the subject of our sister Ruby Franke for the sake of her children.

“Behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe.”

They said that the kids’ safety was the number one priority.

In November, Kevin also officially filed for divorce from Franke.

Franke and Hildebrandt are charged with six counts of child abuse

Just one week after their arrests, the pair were charged with six counts of felony child abuse.

In September, Hildebrandt’s niece Jessi alleged in an interview with KUTV that she had undergone a similar treatment to her kids while she lived with her aunt for a year.

She detailed: “The things that I experienced while living with Jodi — I experienced being tied, I experienced being duct taped, I experienced being blindfolded, I experienced severe isolation, I experienced severe emotional, spiritual and psychological abuse.”

YouTube banned Franke, deleting both 8Passengersand ConneXions channels and banning her from the social media platform.

Ruby Franke at her sentencing on Tuesday, 20 February. Credit: YouTube/COURT TV

Franke blames the abuse on Hildebrandt 

It was reported that Franke initially blamed Hildebrandt for her ‘influence’ on the abuse of her children.

Her attorneys released a statement that said: “Initially, Ms. Franke believed that Jodi Hildebrandt had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrandt took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous,” according to Fox13.

It blamed Hildebrandt solely for isolating Franke from her family completely, distorting her morality.

Franke pleads guilty

Just three days after the statement was released, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse.

It was reported by The Salt Lake Tribune that Judge John J. Walton told Franke there ‘won’t be any argument’ over whether she would spend time in prison.

“With my deepest regret, and sorrow for my family and my children — guilty,” Franke stated as she entered her final countRuby Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. Credit: Instagram/@moms_of_truth

Franke and Hildebrandt are sentenced to prison for child abuse

On 20 February, Franke was convicted and given four separate prison sentences for one to 15 years, with the length of each sentence up to Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.

Despite this, Franke will not serve more than 30 years in the Federal Penitentiary because of a Utah law about consecutive sentences, according to Business Insider.

According to reports, Hildebrandt was given the same sentence.

Upon receiving the sentence, Franke cried in court, apologising to her children: “I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls.”

Hildebrandt apologised and said she loved Franke’s children at her sentencing: “I desire for them to heal physically and emotionally.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/moms_of_truth

Topics: YouTube, Parenting, Mental Health, Crime

YouTuber Ruby Franke pleaded for forgiveness before a judge gave her the maximum prison sentence for child abuse.

The US mother of six – who used to give parental advice to millions on her once-popular YouTubechannel – says she was under the influence of her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt.

Franke, 42, and Hildebrandt, 54, both pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse for trying to convince Franke’s two youngest children that they were evil, possessed and needed to be punished.

The pair were arrested last August at Hildebrandt’s house in Utah, after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped through a window and asked a neighbour to call the police.

The boy, who was thin, covered in wounds and had duct tape around his ankles and wrists, told the St George Police Department that Hildebrandt had put ropes on his limbs and used cayenne pepper and honey to dress his cuts.

State prosecuting attorney Eric Clarke called the environment the children were kept in was like ‘a concentration camp-like setting’.

Ruby Franke sobbed as she was sentenced. Credit: YouTube/moms_of_truth

n a statement to a 5th District Court judge on Tuesday (20 February), Franke said: “My choice to believe and behave this paranoia culminated into criminal activity, for which I stand before you today ready to take accountability.

“Jodi Hildebrandt was never my business partner, nor was I ever employed by her.

“I have never received wages from her orConneXions. Jodi was employed as my son’s counsellor in 2019, and in 2020, I paid her to be my mentor.

“It is important to me to demonstrate my remorse and regret without blame. I take full accountability for my choices, and it is my preference that I serve a prison sentence.”

Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, launched 8 Passengers on YouTube in 2015, racking up a large following as they documented their experiences raising six children.

She later began working with Hildebrandt’s counselling company, ConneXions Classroom, offering parenting seminars, while launching another YouTube channel.

Franke admitted in her plea deal to kicking her son while wearing boots, holding his head under water and closing off his mouth and nose with her hands.

“Kevin, my husband of more than 23 years,” Franke continued in her statement.

“You are the love of my life. [I’m] so sorry to leave to you to finish what we both started together.

“The ending of our marriage is a tragedy. And you are wrapped around my heart in a knot I’ll never be able to undo.

“To my babies; my six little chicks — you are a part of me.

“I will — I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls.

“You are so precious to me, I’m sorry. My choice to live in fear of the world has created a great vulnerability and a blind spot for me — where I have broken hearts, and I’ve caused people to suffer and I have betrayed sacred trust.

“Watching my community respond to my charges with justice and mercy and grace and love is all the more evidence to me of how wrong I’ve been.

“This world is full of really good people.

“And finally, I’m sorry for twisting God’s word and distorting His doctrines.”

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Law&Crime Network

Topics: US News, Crime, YouTube