Ruby Franke’s daughter exposes YouTube mother’s family rules before she was sentenced to up to 60 years for child abuseFor years, Franke filmed her life as the mother of six children and uploaded it to YouTube, earning the 43-year-old around 2.5 million subscribers at her height of popularity.
Sharing videos to her account ‘8 Passengers’ Franke would share parenting advice tips alongside appearances from her then husband Kevin Franke and their six children.
Ruby Franke made a career as a parenting vlogger (YouTube/moms_of_truth)
Franke would later delete the channel in 2022 after separating from her husband before joining the podcast ConneXions, run by Jodi Hildebrandt.
However the entire facade would come crumbling down in 2023 when Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse. Authorities were alerted to the dire situation in Franke’s house after her 12-year-old son escaped through a window and alerted neighbours to the reality of his living conditions.
Franke and Hildebrandt would later plead guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, and they were sentenced to between one and 15 years for each count, to be served consecutively.
Under Utah law, the maximum sentence each woman can serve is 30 years, and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will determine how much time they actually spend behind bars.
Franke’s eldest daughter Shari has now spoken out about her experience growing up with Ruby as her mother, revealing some of the random rules her mother would impose in an interview with The Guardian.
Shari recalled how random rules and practices would often be introduced into family life, including needing to ask for permission to enter her bedroom after returning home from university unannounced.
Shari explained that her mother’s reasoning behind the decision was to create a ‘united front’ in order to ‘correct’ the children’s behaviour. She added that one Christmas Day the younger two had to watch the rest of their family open up presents before being made the clean away wrapping paper.
Shari has since published a memoir titled The House of My Mother in which she opens up about what it was like to grow up in the Franke household.
Shari Franke has now written a memoir about her experiences (YouTube/ABC News)
During an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America, Shari explained how her mother’s abuse changed from physical to psychological after Hildebrandt moved into their home.
“I was like, I don’t like her [Hildebrandt], but maybe this is one good thing that’s come from it, is [Franke is] not yelling, she’s not hitting us any more,” she said.
“But it did become more psychological. And in a way, that was more damaging to me.”
Full timeline of the Ruby Franke case:
Starting a YouTube channel and initial suspicions
Franke started her parenting YouTube channel ‘8 Passengers’ 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.
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’s ConneXions podcast.
Their divisive opinions on subjects such as eating disorders, blaming rape victims and criticising immigrants drew the wrong kind of attention.
The arrest
Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested on child abuse charges in August 2023.
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.
Family members speak out
Franke’s oldest daughter, Shari, wrote on Instagram on the day of the arrests: “Today has been a big day.”
She 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.”
In November, Kevin also officially filed for divorce from Franke, and called her actions to their children ‘horrific and inhumane’.
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.
YouTube banned Franke, deleting both 8 Passengers and ConneXions channels and blocking her from the social media platform.
Franke blames the abuse on Hildebrandt
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. A court had heard how she had tried to convince her youngest children they were ‘evil and possessed’.
Franke and Hildebrandt are sentenced to prison for child abuse
On 20 February 2024, Franke and Hildebrandt were convicted and given four separate prison sentences for one to 15 years, with the length of each sentence decided by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
During sentencing Franke apologised to her children and said 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.”
The two women will not serve more than 30 years in a Federal Penitentiary because of a Utah law about consecutive sentences.
Additional words by Anish Vij.
