YouTube mum Ruby Franke's ex-husband addresses narrative that's 'not true' about child abuse case
Ruby Franke's former husband has hit back at speculation surrounding his role in the horrific abuse his children suffered.
Kevin Franke, 46, wants to set the record straight about what really happened before his ex-wife and Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023.
Franke and Hildebrandt both pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and were sentenced to a minimum of four and a maximum of 30 years behind bars for their crimes.
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Kevin - who was never charged in the case - filed for divorce from his wife of 20 years shortly after her arrest.
He had not been living with Franke or his children at the time she was apprehended, and told investigators he had not seen his family 'for over a year', according to ABC News.
Franke and her kids were living in Hildebrandt's home, a move which came after the mother-of-six stopped posting on her once popular YouTube channel '8 Passengers' in favour of working with Hildebrandt.
The duo instead concentrated on running the 'ConneXions' YouTube channel together, as well as the 'Moms of Truth' Instagram account.
Kevin has now spoken out to explain how the pair 'hid' the horrors which were inflicted on his children from him, while Franke routinely dismissed his concerns about Hildebrandt's influence on their family.
Speaking to People, the engineering consultant explained: "A lot of the physical violence that was described was hidden and kept from me. I didn't even know that those things happened.
"I think Ruby was really careful to hide a lot of that from me. As far as the things like sleeping on a bean bag, removing Chad from sports teams and things, all of those directives came from Jodie.
"The licensed mental health councillor. I definitely voiced my opposition and concern, and it was always flipped back on to me."
He claimed that Hildebrandt pretty much convinced him he was a bad parent after she 'got her hooks' into his family, saying: "She slowly begins to indoctrinate you and condition you to believe things about yourself, to willingly give power to other people. Because you come to believe that you aren't capable of making good decisions."
Kevin explained that he was 'gaslit' by Franke and her business partner, which led him to think: "Okay, well, maybe I am wrong. Maybe this is the right way to parent."
"I understand for somebody who wasn't in it, that it would seem strange," Kevin continued. "I know that there's a lot of [this] sentiment out there, and and I want to address this very directly and very clearly.
"One of the things that I've been so upset about with the popular media's narrative of this experience is how they've collapsed the timeline.
"They've taken the events of 2023 - which were criminal, which were atrocious and horrific - and they've just smashed them all the way back into previous years and extrapolated and assumed that those types of criminal activities were occurring years before Jodie entered our family. That's just simply not true.
"The criminal, physical stuff happened after Jodie came into the picture. The severe and the strict consequences and outcomes came after Jodie came into the picture."
He explained that Franke did always take a 'very strict' approach to parenting her children before Hildebrandt entered their lives though, which is behaviour that Kevin believes she 'learned' from her own upbringing.
Reflecting on his strained relationship with the disgraced YouTuber and Hildebrandt, Kevin said: "The rules, the boundaries of separation, were completely defined by my former wife Ruby and by Jodie.
"What made it difficult was they could cross the boundary anytime they wanted to and that was okay. That was 'in truth'.
"But if I were to even attempt to cross that boundary, that was evidence that I was being selfish, that I was unsafe and that, likely, my marriage would have ended."
Despite condemning his former wife's crimes, Kevin did admit that he 'still loves' her - although 'that doesn't excuse what she did, and it doesn't excuse how she hurt our children and how she hurt me'.
"There's some bridges that you just can't cross and then cross back," he added. "She burned the bridges, and so I'm moving on.
"And I'm going to do what's best for my children, for my family, and for myself, and that's not going to include her."
Kevin also revealed that he has asked Franke to stop contacting him from prison.
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, Ruby Franke, US News, YouTube, Mental Health
Olivia Burke