Famous YouTuber Going to Jail
Recently, former YouTuber family vlogger Ruby Franke has been sentenced to prison on child abuse charges. Franke, age 42, mother to six children, used her social media platform to give parenting advice to other parents. She was recently, sentenced to four different prison terms of one an fifteen years each. She had a big YouTube platform with over two million followers and subscribers on her deleted YouTube channel “8 Passengers.”
Ruby Franke was arrested in Utah on August 2023 due to the malnourishment of her children. Her twelve year old son had climbed out of a window of Jodi Hildebrandt’s house, owner of a self-improvement counseling business, and ran towards a neighbor asking for help. The boy had open wounds and was bound with duct tape. He asked the neighbor for food and water.
The cops and protective services were called and that is when they found Franke’s ten year old daughter in the same state as the boy. She was then arrested along with Jodi Hildebrandt. After the arrest, Franke’s eldest daughter, Sheri Franke, age 20, shared a picture of police officers to her Instagram account and captioned it “Finally.” This post is now deleted. In December, Franke and Hildebrandt both pleaded guilty to the second degree child abuse.
The Children’s Nightmare
Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke said there is a chance for Franke’s sentence to be lowered due to her cooperation with the state. However, he continues to focus on her crimes and the “concentration-camp like setting” the kids were in. Franke and Hildebrandt had the 12 year old boy and ten year old girl from May to August of last year. “Had the older of the children not had the courage to run away and ask a neighbor to call the police, heaven only knows how much longer he could have survived in that situation,” stated Clarke. Ruby Franke’s plea agreement detailed the abuse the two young kids went through during those three months.
Ruby Franke’s statement says that she forced her son’s head underwater, cut off his oxygen by covering his nose and mouth. and kicked him while she was wearing boots. Her youngest daughter was constantly denied food and water and was forced to run barefoot on dirt roads claiming that the child was “evil and possessed.”
The girl was also forced to jump into cactuses multiple times. Both children were forced to work out in the sun with no sun protection which lead to horrible sunburn that developed blisters. She also allowed other adults to inflict physical abuse onto the children.
Signs Between the Videos
Prior to these arrests, Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt ran an online self improvement program together named ConneXions. Hildebrandt acquired her clinical mental health counselor license back in 2003. She became licensed until 2005. Five years after she became licensed, a teen living with her had contacted the authorities claiming that she was forcing them to sleep outside and did not enroll the teen in school. The teenager explained that their parent’s had sent them to live with Jodi because she was their aunt. The parents were having trouble with the teen’s behavior. Despite the accusations, she was not charged.
Ruby Franke’s YouTube fans began suspecting her of abuse due to her harsh punishments towards the kids in her videos. The suspicions began in 2020. One of her son’s had said he had been sleeping in a beanbag for months as a punishment. This is when fans began going through her videos and realized how unrealistic her punishments were. For example, when Franke chose to not give her 6-year-old lunch for school because she had forgotten it at home. Another thing was when she threatened to chop off the head of her daughter’s stuffed animal.
Her Apology to Her Kids
During her sentencing, Ruby Franke apologized to her children for the years of abuse they had endured in her care. According to her, she had “believed dark was light and right was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe and good.” Hildebrandt also said she chose to not show up to trial to prevent the children from relieving their experience with them and she desired for them to heal physically and emotionally.
Written By Erika Cano
Sources:
BBC: Ruby Franke: Parenting advice YouTuber given maximum sentence for child abuse
The Salt Lake Tribune: Ruby Franke, Jodi Hildebrandt sentenced to prison in Utah child abuse case
The Guardian: Ruby Franke, a YouTube mom vlogger, sentenced to prison for child abuse
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Rich Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Esther Vargas Flickr Page – Creative Commons License