The Unsettling Tale of Ruby Franke’s Declining Journey from Well-known “Momfluencer” to Felony Conviction
Ruby Franke was a well-known social media figure, known to many as a mother of six from Utah. Unbelievably, though, her actions turned far more menacing when she was not in front of the camera.
Franke, 42, admitted guilt to four felony counts of child abuse in December 2023 and is currently serving a sentence of up to thirty years in prison. Just a few months prior, it was found that she and a family counsellor had abused two of her children horribly, forcing them into malnutrition, confinement, and other horrible things.
The case has continued to get national attention, especially since the startling details of the abuse came to light on March 22 with the release of police records and other evidence. Franke’s former reputation as a well-liked “momfluencer” is now seen in an even more negative light. The story of Ruby Franke is certain to go down as one of the most notorious child abuse cases in recent memory due to the horrific details of the crimes and Ruby’s almost celebrity status.
Franke’s family life was anchored in her beliefs.
Ruby was born in January 1982 in Utah. She grew up with three sisters and, upon marrying Kevin Franke, a former engineering professor at Brigham Young University, had a large family of her own. The now-divorced couple shares six children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve. Between March 2003 and September 2013, their children were born.
Being devoted members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, religion had a significant impact on the dynamics inside the Franke family. While her family wasn’t “loud and in your face” about their faith, Ruby told Salt Lake City television affiliate KSL in 2016 that one advantage of the group’s social media presence was being able to convey convictions “in a way that they normally wouldn’t.”
In private, though, Ruby started to become obsessed with religious themes; her diary entries frequently mentioned the devil, demons, and possessions. She classified one of her children as “Satanic” in one post and said that the child “slithers & sneaks around looking for opportunities when no one is watching” in another.
The well-known YouTuber was criticized for her parenting style.
Ruby and her husband gained popularity on the internet long before they started recording these scary observations on their YouTube account, which they created in 2015. With over two million followers, their channel, 8 Passengers, followed the life of the couple and their six kids. The couple gave peeks into how they homeschooled the ruby franke children and raised and disciplined them.
However, as the channel gained popularity, viewers began to suspect abuse and exploitation based on some of the recordings, raising questions and condemning the pair’s strict parenting style. Child protective services were reportedly summoned to the Franke residence in June 2020, as per NBC News. This was due to a Change.org petition that referenced an 8 Passengers video in which the couple’s then-15-year-old son claimed he had been punished by sleeping on a bean bag for seven months. When it was determined that the claims were unfounded, the investigation was closed.
Still, more reports of possible maltreatment started to surface. In a different video, Ruby explained to viewers that when her daughter neglected to pack Eve, then six, a school lunch, so she refused to give it to her. She said, “Hopefully, no one feeds her or comes in and gives her lunch, because then she won’t learn from the inevitable outcome.” In addition, the mother threatened to discard her kids’ valuables unless they paid for them again or completed “equivalent-value” tasks.
Franke’s dubious parenting style remained unchecked despite these apparent warning signs and the reaction they caused. After she got in touch with Jodi Hildebrandt, a new business partner and life coach, everything only appeared to get worse.
Franke was additionally impacted by a “severe” life counselling program.
Ruby and her husband, Kevin, parted ways not long after she stopped running the 8 Passengers channel in 2022, and Ruby then started working with Jodi Hildebrandt and her coaching business, ConneXions. Hildebrant, a therapist with expertise in sex addiction and porn, founded ConneXions in 2007 to offer relationship and parenting treatment. As reported by NBC News, several former customers claimed that Hildebrandt, now 54, took “an extreme approach” that occasionally involved humiliation and that the company’s offers were based on the LDS faith.
Franke and Hildebrandt developed a professional rapport as they shared video content, and Franke finally became a “certified mental fitness trainer” on the ConneXions website. She afterwards asserted that Hildebrandt and the company never paid her and that she wasn’t a business partner.
Franke had also asked Hildebrandt for advice regarding her own family in the interim. The mother claimed that in 2019, Hildebrandt gave advice to one of her sons, and the following year, she started using Hildebrandt as a personal mentor. She claimed that in the end, Hildebrandt’s therapy caused her to adopt a “distorted version of reality.”
She testified in court before receiving her sentence, saying, “I was led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops that control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need abuse.”
Franke denied two of her children food and water.
Court records have revealed the horrifying extent of Franke’s mistreatment, which transpired between May and August of 2023. As per the terms of her plea deal, Franke made one of her boys perform dangerous physical labour for hours or even days at a time. He worked outside without shoes, getting sunburned repeatedly and having “sloughing and blistered skins.” In addition, she reprimanded the youngster for drinking water without asking permission and denied him enough food.
Hildebrandt bound the youngster, who was 12 years old at the time, using ropes and handcuffs, causing injuries to his wrists, ankles, and injured muscle and tissue. The youngster told police officers that after the wounds were poorly treated with cayenne pepper and honey, they were wrapped with duct tape.
In a similar vein, one of Franke’s daughters laboured outside in her bare feet without enough food or drink. According to case report documents, she was frequently told she was “evil and possessed.”
People claim that in July 2023, the youngster attempted to flee Hildebrandt’s house, but he was apprehended and restrained with two sets of handcuffs at his hands and feet. But yet another crucial act of bravery would guarantee that the appalling conditions within the house were eventually revealed.
Franke’s detention resulted in a spectacular escape.
A few weeks later, on August 30, Franke’s son made a second attempt at escape and was successful in climbing through Hildebrandt’s house window. The child knocked on two houses in the neighbourhood, but nobody answered. He rang a third house’s doorbell and started to walk away when a guy answered, assuming the outcome would be the same.
Hello. Would you mind doing me two favours, please? “If you could take me to the nearest police station… well, actually, just one [favour] is fine,” he inquired before giving his explanation. When the neighbour saw that the youngster was malnourished and covered in wounds, according to doorbell camera footage, he offered him water, a banana, and a chair to sit on while he called the police. The guy, fighting back tears, explained the boy’s condition—that is, that he was thirsty and hungry—and then he waited on the phone for an ambulance to come for several minutes.
After that, Franke’s son led police to Hildebrandt’s residence, where they conducted an emergency search of the property. They discovered the boy’s nine-year-old sister inside the house, shaved head to toe, in a closet.
Following their detention, Franke and Hildebrandt were each accused with six charges of child abuse. Franke’s four children were given up to the state.
Franke’s sisters and eldest daughter disowned her.
Following Franke’s arrest, there was immediate backlash. In accordance with YouTube’s creator responsibility guidelines, Franke’s two channels were cancelled, and she was banned, the platform said on September 6.
Shari, her eldest daughter, who had severed her relationship with her family the year before, shared Franke’s arrest on Instagram with the brief comment, “Finally.” “I and my family are so glad justice is being served,” she wrote in another post, implying that her siblings’ abuse may have gone unnoticed for a longer period. We are happy that the police and CPS have finally taken action after years of our attempts to inform them of this.
In a video posted on September 13, Bonnie Hoellein, a family vlogger, revealed that she and her siblings, Julie Griffiths and Ellie Mecham, were cut off from Ruby and her family and were unaware of the violence. “Our connection was broken. Hoellein stated, “I am not my sister,” as the film came to a close. “We did not have access to anyone,” she added. I am not the fault of my sister.
However, the judicial system still had to be involved. The cases involving Franke and Hildebrandt were going to court.
The influencer accepts “complete accountability for my decisions.”
Franke claimed to have further unsettling secrets about her family after her incarceration. She asserted that one of her minor children had sexually molested up to 20 individuals, including a sibling, during a September 2023 court appearance from prison. She did not, however, offer any evidence to support the allegations, and no further inquiries have been acknowledged in the media.
Before the prosecutors asked for a waiver hearing in December, indicating a potential plea agreement, Franke and Hildebrandt were detained without being granted bail. On December 18, Franke entered a guilty plea to four felony counts of severe child abuse, which is precisely what transpired. Hildebrandt entered a similar guilty plea.
Franke received four consecutive prison sentences ranging from one to fifteen years on February 20, 2024. She will serve a maximum of 30 years in prison; however, the exact amount will be decided by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in accordance with a Utah statute pertaining to consecutive sentences.
I think it’s critical to express my regret and remorse without assigning blame. At her hearing, Franke sobbed, “I accept full responsibility for my decisions, and I would like to serve a prison sentence.
In exchange for Hildebrandt’s guilty plea, she was given the same four consecutive terms. Meanwhile, Kevin Franke—who formally filed for divorce from Ruby in November 2023—has not been charged with any charges related to the matter.
