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Ruby Franke appears in court for her sentencing hearing on Feb. 20, 2024 (Law&Crime screenshot)
Former vlogging star Ruby Franke may serve up to three decades behind bars after admitting to brutalizing the children who once shared a screen with her on their hit YouTube channel “8 Passengers.” Franke appeared in a Washington County, Utah, state court on Tuesday where a judge ordered her to serve a sentence of four to 30 years for abusing her children.
Franke’s former business partner and co-defendant in the case, Jodi Hildebrandt, was handed the same sentence immediately following Franke’s hearing.
Both women in December pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree felony child abuse. Prior to entering into their plea agreements, the women had each been facing six felony child abuse charges.
Specifically, Franke was sentenced to one to 15 years on each count of child abuse, with the sentences to be served consecutively, meaning one after the other. While her plea agreement did not specify a specific prison duration, the document did state that Franke would serve time in detention for each of the aforementioned charges and that the sentences would be consecutive. While the sentence is capped at a maximum of 30 years, the state board of pardons and parole will ultimately determine the sentence length at a later date, Law&Crime’s Cathy Russon reported.
Prior to being formally sentenced, Franke addressed the court and apologized for the conduct that caused her to become a convicted felon.
“I was led to believe this world was an evil place filled with church leaders that lie and molest….and children who need abuse. My choice to believe this led to criminal behavior. Jodi Hildebrandt was never my business partner, she was my son’s counselor,” she said. “My choice to live in fear of the world has created a blind spot for me. Watching my community respond to my charges with justice, mercy, grace and love…..this world is full of really great people. I’m sorry for twisting God’s words and distorting his doctrine.”
She added, “I’m willing to serve a prison sentence as long as it takes to unravel what I believed.”
Prosecutors during Tuesday’s hearing urged the judge to follow the terms of the plea agreement, telling the court that Franke “committed horrible acts of child abuse in a concentration camp setting.”
Franke was initially arrested in August after her 12-year-old son — who was emaciated and had “open wounds” — climbed from a window and escaped from a home where he had allegedly been starved and bound with duct tape.
The home from which Franke’s child escaped belonged to Hildebrandt, Franke’s business partner and podcast co-host. Hildebrandt, a self-help guru, was also charged with six counts of child abuse in connection to the children’s treatment.
Hildebrandt is the founder of “Connexions Classroom,” a parenting workshop class aimed at creating “joy in your life and your relationships.” Connexions has been the subject of criticism for allegedly espousing extreme methods of parenting, which include rejecting young children who fail to live by their parents’ beliefs and cutting off communications with people who don’t abide by the program’s teachings.
Jodi Hildebrandt (YouTube screenshot)
Franke previously released a statement through her attorneys claiming she was manipulated into abusing her children by Hildebrandt.
“Ruby Franke is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement. Initially, Ms. Franke believed that Jodi Hildebrant had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrant took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous,” the statement says. “Over an extended period, Ms. Hildebrant systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Franke. This prolonged isolation resulted in Ms. Franke being subjected to a distorted sense of morality, shaped by Ms. Hildebrandt’s influence.”
During the 3 1/2 months she has been incarcerated since her arrest, Franke has “engaged in introspection” allowing her to “reset her moral compass” and now fully understands the weight of her actions, her attorneys said.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, police at about 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, responded to a call at a residence located in Ivins, Utah, regarding a possible case of child abuse. The calling party told the dispatcher that a juvenile had shown up at their door asking for food and water. The caller said that the child “appeared to be emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities,” police wrote in the release.
The child who escaped from the home was identified as a 12-year-old boy with “deep lacerations” due to being tied up with rope and duct tape.
Police said the 12-year-old’s condition was “so severe” that Santa Clara-Irvine Emergency Medical Services personnel were dispatched to the scene and examined him before transporting them to St. George Regional Hospital for medical treatment.
Investigators then learned that there was a 10-year-old girl who was also believed to be “in a similar condition” still at the home from which the 12-year-old escaped.
“Officers arrived at the home and searched the residence, locating another juvenile in a similar physical condition of malnourishment,” police said. “That juvenile was also transported by EMS to the hospital for treatment.”
The other child found in the home was said to be the 12-year-old boy’s younger sister.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for the home in connection with the condition of the children. During that search, police said they recovered evidence “consistent with the markings found on the juvenile.”
Franke’s “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, which had more than 2 million followers at one time, featured videos of her, her husband Kevin Franke, and their six children. However, the channel was taken down earlier this year amid allegations of child abuse and other disturbing behavior.
Kevin Franke has since filed for divorce from Ruby Franke.
