Warning: This article contains descriptions of child abuse that some readers may find upsetting
The new documentary Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke features a police investigator reading out Franke’s chilling diary entries.
Within these, it outlines the horrifying reasons why Franke believed she was abusing her children.
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This is just one of the many revelations to have come out of the new Hulu documentary, which can be watched on Disney+ in the UK.
For those who don’t know Ruby Franke, she was a family YouTuber who ran a channel dedicated to showing people her and her husband’s life alongside their six kids.
She made headlines in August 2023, however, when she was arrested on six counts of aggravated child abuse, later pleading guilty to four.
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She was imprisoned for all four counts, each of which carry between one and fifteen years, up to a maximum total of 30 years.
Her abuse was shocking, with some of her children found emaciated and one of her kids recalling how she had beaten her son Chad so badly, they had to clean blood off the walls.
She was eventually caught because one of her children escaped after having been tied up, running to a nearby neighbour starving and covered in wounds with duct tape patched over them.
The journal entries of Franke paints a horrifying picture, as she believed her children were satanic, the reasoning behind her abuse.
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A police investigator read out the Mormon YouTuber’s diary entries, with one reading: “Sleep outside, shaved her head, doused her with water, over his nose and mouth, head in the toilet, needs to be painful. Blood on his face, scream and scream.”
Another said: “I told the boy, he emulates a snake. If he wants to emulate the Savior, he needs to be a hundred percent obedient with exactness.
“The body must engage in good work and the good works need to be painful. I have the power of God and he must obey.”
Other entries, released after was taken to trial in 2023, said she felt her children were ‘possessed’.
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The names of her children were redacted, using just R or E instead, with one reading: “I told [R] that he needs to find God. I invited him to fast and pray. [R] is in and out of possession.”
Another read: “[E] is better behaved with Jodi [Hildebrandt, her business partner who aided in her child abuse]. She likes to think she can manipulate me. I gave her a pixie hair cut. All her long hair is gone. No more distracting [with] hair.”
Other entries implied that she felt her children were being manipulative in asking for food when she would starve them.
During the trial, Franke and Hildebrandt admitted to telling her children they were evil and deserved punishment.
Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke is available to watch on Disney+ in the UK now.
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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.
Topics: True Crime, TV and Film, TV, Documentaries
Michael Slavin