Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
Former YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke, who had previously pleaded guilty to starving and abusing her children, has received the maximum prison sentence. The judge sentenced both Franke and her ex-business partner Jodi Hildebrandt to serve four terms of one to 15 years each, reported BBC. Hildebrandt, similar to Franke, had pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and received an identical prison term.
The Outlet reported that both Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023. The arrests came after the former’s malnourished 12-year-old son climbed out of a window at Hildebrandt’s house in Ivins, Utah. The child then ran to a neighbor’s house and asked for food and water. The neighbor then called 911. Police records stated the boy had lacerations from being tied up with rope.
According to the New York Times, Ruby Franke had founded the now-defunct YouTube channel 8 Passengers and racked up over two million followers. She and her husband, Kevin Franke, soon faced backlash for their strict parenting strategies. They would refuse food to their children as punishment. People eventually began accusing the couple of being abusive.
How were Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt caught?
The New York Times report stated that authorities arrested Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, on August 30, 2023. The arrests occurred after Franke’s son escaped while being held captive in Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins, Utah. The 12-year-old reportedly climbed out the window of the house.
The child, emaciated and malnourished with duct tape on his ankles and wrists, and open wounds, went to a neighbor’s house asking for food and water. The neighbor called the police, who then found Franke’s 10-year-old daughter in a similar condition. They charged both women with six counts of aggravated child abuse.
Before the arrests, Ruby Franke, a mother-of-six, had faced backlash for documenting her strict parenting style on social media. She was the host of the now-defunct YouTube channel 8 Passengers, where she documented the lives of her six children.
These videos also chronicled her parenting strategies, which included punishments for her children such as refusing them food. She also threatened to chop off the heads of stuffed toys or cancel Christmas as a punishment. One of her sons had once mentioned that he was forced to sleep on a bean bag for seven months.
What did Ruby Franke do to her children?
According to BBC, Ruby Franke’s abuse of her children was harsher. These included tying them up, beating and kicking them, neglecting to feed them, and forcing them to work outdoors in the summer without sunscreen, resulting in serious sunburn.
People Magazine reported that in a 10-page plea agreement, Franke admitted to abusing her son, Russell, in horrible ways such as kicking him. She admitted to having held his head underwater and covered his mouth and nose so he could not breathe.
BBC also stated that Franke’s ex-husband Kevin had asked the court, through his lawyer, to impose the maximum sentence on the abusive mother. He also called his children’s suffering “horrific and inhumane.” Kevin filed for divorce last November, as per NBC News. His lawyer told TODAY.com that the couple had been separated for about 13 months.
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt signed plea agreements in December under which two out of the six aggravated child abuse charges were dropped. That same month, they both pleaded guilty to the remaining four counts, per People Magazine.
The outlet reported that on February 20, 2024, Ruby received four separate prison sentences for 1 to 15 years, which will run consecutively, as reported by TODAY, KSL 5, and KUTV. Hildebrandt received the same sentence as her ex-business partner.
The TV series Impact X Nightline had previously revisited the case in an episode titled “Ruby Franke: A Momfluencer’s Double Life?”.
