All horrific acts YouTuber mother Ruby Franke admitted in court as she was sentenced to 60 years in jail for child abuse
Former family vlogger Ruby Franke might have shared snippets of her home life online, but viewers had no idea what was really going on behind closed doors for years.
The abuse that her six children suffered at the hands of their YouTuber mother and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt only came to light after the pair were arrested in August 2023.
Police swooped on the Utah family home after one of Franke's sons managed to escape and alert neighbours, who said he appeared to be 'emaciated'.
The 12-year-old - who had duct tape around his wrists and ankles as well as lacerations across his body - fled from Hildebrandt's house through a window.
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After authorities were alerted, police then found the rest of Franke's children in similar states, leading to her arrest.
Her eldest daughter, Shari, has since spoken out about the horrific punishments that the 42-year-old would inflict on her and her siblings, as well as how they had 'been trying to tell the police and CPS for years'.
Franke and Hildebrandt both pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in December, seeing the mother-of-six admit to committing several appalling acts as part of her plea deal.
But despite her admissions, Shari believes that the disgraced parenting influencer cannot 'fully comprehend the guilt' of what she confessed to in court.
"I think that she's as sorry as she can be," she told ABC. "What she has done is so bad that I don't think her mind allows her to kind of fully comprehend the guilt of all that.
"And so I think that she probably genuinely believed everything she said. I don't believe it though."
In a statement filed in court which supported her guilty pleas, Franke acknowledged that she had held her son's head underwater, kicking him while wearing boots, and covering his mouth and nose with her hands.
As well as this, the document said she used ropes to tie together handcuffs that were positioned around his hands and feet while he lay on his stomach, to lift his arms and legs off the ground, leaving him injured.
Franke admitted that her 'actions involved the physical torture' of her son, despite her previously describing the abuse of 'acts of love', the Independent reported.
The content creator, who had more than two million subscribers at her peak on YouTube, had tried to convince her children that they were 'evil and possessed', and that the punishments she enforced were a form of repentance.
Her son was also forced to endure hours of physical labour in the scorching summer heat without sunscreen and with little food and water, which resulted in severe sunburn and dehydration.
Franke also did not provide the boy with sufficient food - and when he was given something to eat, it would be extremely plain, although the rest of the household got more flavourful meals.
The youngster was not allowed to use electronics, books, or notebooks, and was kept isolated from others, too.
Similar punishments were also inflicted upon Franke's nine-year-old daughter, who was also forced to work outside and go without food or water.
In her plea agreement, Hildebrandt said she was either complicit in the abuse subjected on the children or was aware of it taking place.
She also admitted to forcing Franke's youngest daughter to 'jump into a cactus multiple times' as well as walking barefoot 'for extended periods of time' on dirt roads until her feet blistered.
State prosecutor Eric Clarke said at the time that the two children were living in a 'concentration camp-like setting', adding: "The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment."
As Franke was sentenced in court, the convicted child abuser sobbed as she apologised to her children and told them 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. I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong."
After pleading guilty as part of their plea deals, Franke and Hildebrandt were sentenced to serve four terms of 1 to 15 years behind bars for each of the second-degree felony aggravated child abuse charges they admitted to.
It means they could each spend up to 30 years behind bars.
The sentences, which are the maximum for each count under Utah law, will run consecutively, but the exact time that the pair will have to serve will be determined at a later date by the state's parole board.
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.
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: Crime, Parenting, True Crime, US News, YouTube, Ruby Franke
Olivia Burke