Former YouTube Star Ruby Franke Sentenced for Child Abuse; Who is she and what did she do? – The financial

Ruby Franke, a Utah mother of six who gave parenting advice to millions of people through a YouTube channel, tearfully apologized to her children for physically and emotionally abusing them before a judge handed down the sentence. that might leave her years and even decades behind bars.

Franke argued that she had been “manipulated” by her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt.

The defendant told Judge John J. Walton that she would not advocate for a shorter sentence before standing to thank local police officers, doctors and social workers for being the “angels” who saved her children from her in a time when, he says, he was under the influence of his partner.

A mental health counselor from Utah, who had been hired to work with Franke’s youngest son but began doing business with her, also received four consecutive prison sentences Tuesday ranging from one to 15 years.

Franke and Hildebrandt will only serve up to 30 years in prison because of a Utah law that limits the length of consecutive sentences. The Acquittal and Parole Board will consider their behavior while incarcerated and determine how much of that time they will spend in prison.

“I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls,” Franke told his children, who were not present at the sentencing hearing. “My willingness to sacrifice everything for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you everything that was soft, safe and good.”

Who is Ruby Franke and what did she do?

Franke, 42, and Hildebrandt, 54, had 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 to repent.

The women were arrested at Hildebrandt’s home in the southern Utah town of Ivins last August following Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped through a window and asked a neighbor to call the police. , according to a call to the 911 emergency number, published by the St. George Police Department.

The boy was underweight, covered in wounds and had duct tape around his ankles and wrists. He told investigators that Hildebrandt had tied ropes to his limbs and used cayenne pepper and honey on his wounds, according to a search warrant.

State’s Attorney Eric Clarke described the environment in which Franke and Hildebrandt had kept the children as “a concentration camp-like environment” from the Holocaust.

While Franke has shown remorse and cooperated with attorneys, Clarke said, Hildebrandt has not and continues to blame the children. Hildebrandt’s attorney, Douglas Terry, said his client is not the remorseless woman she has been portrayed as and accepts responsibility for her actions.

In a brief statement Tuesday in court, Hildebrandt did not apologize, but said “I sincerely love these children. I wish them to heal physically and emotionally.” He reminded the judge that he accepted his plea deal instead of going to trial because he didn’t want the children to have to relive their trauma by testifying.

The mental health counselor pleaded guilty in December to four of her six counts of aggravated child abuse, and two counts were dismissed as part of her plea deal. Franke also pleaded guilty to four of her six charges and not guilty to two.

Ruby Franke was dedicated to offering advice on how to educate and raise children. (Photo: @moms_of_truth)

Franke gave parenting advice to parents… and violated his children

Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, started the 8 Passengers YouTube channel in 2015 and amassed a large following while documenting their experiences raising six children. Later, Franke began working with Hildebrandt’s consulting company, ConneXions Classroom, offering parenting seminars. She then launched another YouTube channel and posted content to her shared Instagram account, Moms of Truth.

Franke admitted in her plea agreement to kicking her son while she was wearing boots, holding the boy’s head under water and blocking his mouth and nose with her hands. She and Hildebrandt said they also forced him to perform physical labor in the summer heat without providing him with much food or water, which caused dehydration and blistering sunburn. The boy was told that everything they were doing to him was an act of love, according to the plea agreements.

Hildebrandt also admitted to coercing Franke’s youngest daughter, who was 9 years old at the time, to jump onto a cactus several times and run barefoot on dirt paths until her feet blistered. The boy and girl were taken to the hospital following the arrests and taken into state custody along with two of their siblings.

Before her arrest in 2023, Ruby Franke was already a divisive figure in the world of parenting videos. The Frankes were criticized online for certain parenting decisions, including banning their eldest son from her room for seven months following she played a prank on her younger brother. In other videos, Ruby Franke talked regarding refusing to take her daughter’s lunch to kindergarten following she forgot it at home and threatening to cut off the head of one of her daughters’ stuffed animals to punish her for cutting things around the house.

The 8 Passengers YouTube channel has been canceled and Kevin Franke filed for divorce. Both Franke and Hildebrandt have 30 days to appeal their sentences.