Ruby Franke, a mother of six from Utah who gave parenting advice to millions of people through a YouTube channelapologized through tears to his children for physically and emotionally abuse them before a judge issued the sentence that could leave her years and even decades behind bars.
Franke argued that she had been “manipulated” by her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt.
The defendant told Judge John J. Walton that she would not advocate for a shorter sentence before standing to thank local police officers, doctors and social workers for being the “angels” who saved her children from her in a moment when, he says, He was under the influence of his partner.
A mental health counselor from Utah, who had been hired to work with Franke’s youngest son but began doing business with her, also received four consecutive prison sentences Tuesday ranging from one to 15 years.
Franke and Hildebrandt will only serve up to 30 years in prison by a Utah law that limits the length of consecutive sentences. The Acquittal and Parole Board will consider their behavior while incarcerated and determine how much of that time they will spend in prison.
“I will never stop crying for hurting their tender souls.”Franke told his children, who were not present at the sentencing hearing. “My willingness to sacrifice everything for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you everything that was soft, safe and good.”
Who is Ruby Franke and what did she do?
Franke, 42, and Hildebrandt, 54, had declared themselves guilty of four counts of child abuse aggravated for trying to convince Franke’s two youngest sons that they were evil, possessed, and needed to be punished to repent.
The women were arrested at Hildebrandt’s home in the southern Utah town of Ivins last August after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped through a window and asked a neighbor to call the police, according to a 911 call released by the St. George Police Department.
The boy was underweight, covered in wounds and had duct tape around his ankles and wrists. He told investigators that Hildebrandt had tied ropes to his limbs and used cayenne pepper and honey on his wounds, according to a search warrant.
State’s Attorney Eric Clarke described the environment in which Franke and Hildebrandt had kept the children as “an environment similar to a concentration camp” of the holocaust.
While Franke has shown remorse and cooperated with attorneys, Clarke said, Hildebrandt has not and continues to blame the children. Hildebrandt’s attorney, Douglas Terry, said his client is not the remorseless woman she has been portrayed as and accepts responsibility for her actions.
In a brief statement Tuesday in court, Hildebrandt did not apologize, but said “I sincerely love these children. “I wish you to heal physically and emotionally.”. He reminded the judge that he accepted his plea deal instead of going to trial because he didn’t want the children to have to relive their trauma by testifying.
The mental health counselor pleaded guilty in December to four of her six counts of aggravated child abuse, and two counts were dismissed as part of her plea deal. Franke also pleaded guilty to four of her six charges and not guilty to two.
Franke gave parenting advice to parents… and violated his children
Franke and her husband, Kevin Frankethey started the channel 8 Passengers in Youtube in 2015 and amassed a large following while documenting their experiences raising six children. Later, Franke began working with Hildebrandt’s consulting company, ConneXions Classroom, offering parenting seminars. Later, she launched another YouTube channel and posted content on her shared Instagram account, Moms of Truth.
Franke admitted in her plea agreement to kicking her son while she was wearing boots, holding the boy’s head under water and blocking his mouth and nose with her hands. She and Hildebrandt said that They also forced him to perform physical labor in the summer heat without providing him with much food or water, which caused dehydration and blistering sunburn. The boy was told that everything they were doing to him was an act of love, according to the plea agreements.
Hildebrandt also admitted to coercing Franke’s youngest daughter, who was 9 years old at the time, to jump onto a cactus several times and run barefoot on dirt paths until her feet blistered. The boy and girl were taken to the hospital after the arrests and taken into state custody along with two of their siblings.
Before her arrest in 2023, Ruby Franke was already a divisive figure in the world of parenting videos. The Frankes were criticized online for certain parenting decisions, including banning his eldest son from his room for seven months after he played a prank on his younger brother. In other videos, Ruby Franke talked about refusing to take her daughter’s lunch to kindergarten after she forgot it at home and threatening to cut off the head of one of her daughters’ stuffed animals to punish her for cutting things around the house.
The YouTube channel 8 Passengers It has been canceled and Kevin Franke filed for divorce. Both Franke and Hildebrandt have 30 days to appeal their sentences.
