SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A Utah judge on Tuesday ruled against Ruby Franke, a mother of six who once gave parenting advice through her popular YouTube channel “8 Passengers.” A prison sentence will be handed down after her business partner admitted physical and mental suffering. Emotionally abusing Franke's children.
At back-to-back sentencing hearings in southern Utah, Franke and mental health counselor Jody Hildebrandt accused Franke of aggravated child abuse of trying to make Franke's two youngest children believe they were evil. It was the first time they were able to speak out since pleading guilty to four counts of abuse. He was possessed and needed punishment to repent.
Judge John J. Walton accepted plea deals from both women, who agreed to serve prison terms and spelled out the charges.
According to a 911 call released by the St. George Police Department, Franke's 12-year-old son fled through the window of Hildebrandt's home in Ivins, southern Utah, on August 30, 2023, prompting a neighbor to alert police. He asked them to report it. . The boy was thin and covered in scars, with duct tape wrapped around his ankles and wrists. According to the search warrant, the suspect told investigators that Hildebrandt had tied rope around his hands and feet and used cayenne pepper and honey to dress his wounds.
The two women were arrested at Hildebrandt's home and each charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse. Franke pleaded guilty to four of the six charges and not guilty to two at a hearing on December 18, 2023. Hildebrandt also pleaded guilty to four counts, and two counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Each charge carries a sentence of one year to 15 years in prison, which can be served consecutively.
In her plea agreement, Franke admitted to kicking her son with her boots on, putting his head under water and covering his mouth and nose with his hands. She and Hildebrand said the boy was forced to do hours of manual labor in the summer heat with little food or water, causing dehydration and a severe sunburn.
Hildebrandt admitted to forcing Franke's youngest daughter, who was 9 years old at the time, to repeatedly jump into cacti and run barefoot on dirt roads until her feet blistered. The boy and the girl were taken to a hospital after their arrest and then taken into state custody along with their two brothers.
Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, launched “8 Passengers” on YouTube in 2015, documenting their experiences raising six children and amassing a huge following.
Before her arrest in 2023, Ruby Franke was already a divisive figure in the vlogger world. The Fran family was criticized online for certain parenting decisions, including banning their eldest son from his bedroom for seven months after he pranked his younger brother. In other videos, Ruby Franke is seen denying lunch to a kindergartener who forgot her lunch at home, and threatening to cut off the head of a stuffed animal to punish a girl who cut things in the house. We talked about things.
The YouTube channel has since been terminated and Kevin Franke has filed for divorce.
