This article discusses instances of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The daughter of Ruby Franke has said she still has bad dreams that her mother being released from jail.
Ruby, a mother-of-six who ran a parenting YouTube channel called 8 Passengers, could spend up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated child abuse, a sentence also handed to her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt.
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One of Franke's sons had escaped from Hildebrandt's house covered in lacerations and gone to a neighbour to ask for help, prompting them to call the police.
The YouTube channel had focused on what appeared to be the family life of Utah woman Ruby, her husband Kevin, and their children, but the truth behind the scenes was much harsher, as Ruby was subjecting her children to various abusive behaviours.
Speaking to The Guardian, their eldest daughter Shari said that she no longer refers to her biological parents as 'mom and dad', though she did have 'really good memories' of Kevin, and when asked whether she has nightmares, did say there were some bad dreams.
She said: “I have dreams that Ruby is out of prison and back in our family. I’m sure those will always be there, but I’m getting better.”
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Shari said that the YouTube audience got the 'nice side' of Ruby Franke, and she soon had to learn how to work around this.
She said: "The nice side was shown on YouTube. That was the nicest version of Ruby I ever saw.
"I soon learned that if I was going to ask for something, I better do it when she’s filming, because she wants to be shown as a nice mom and wants people to like her, so if I ask for a shopping trip she’ll agree to pay for it as long as she can film it.
"The nice version of her was the most staged one, the most manufactured."
Behind the scenes in usual family life, things were very different, with Shari saying the relationship between her and Ruby Franke became 'entirely corporate'.
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Ruby wouldn't support Shari's own attempts to make a YouTube channel until she reached 100,000 subscribers, after which point Ruby said she'd be collecting 10 percent of the income in 'management fees', and would sometimes start paying Shari to take part in YouTube videos she wasn't keen on.
Shari also said that she was subjected to physical abuse from Ruby as she would be smacked on the arms, have her hair pulled, and be flicked on the lips as forms of punishment.
In her memoir, entitled The House of My Mother ,she wrote: "Anything less than unbridled enthusiasm would trigger Ruby into a rage. One hint of displeasure on my face, and whack!
"But no matter how much I twisted and turned, no matter how much I achieved or accomplished, it would never be enough. There would always be some new hoop to jump through, some new standard to meet."
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She thought this was normal parenting until years later, and when she took a course in mental health, she realised she was very depressed.
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.
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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, Ruby Franke, US News, YouTube, Parenting, Social Media
Joe Harker