Ruby Franke, a mother of six who ran a popular YouTube channel doling out parenting advice, was sentenced to at least four years in prison for child abuse.
The 42-year-old woman was a well-known figure in the online world of parenting advice and had over 2.3 million followers on her now-deleted YouTube channel '8 Passengers.' Her long and controversial YouTube career came to an end after she was arrested in August 2023.
Ruby’s children, aged nine and 11 when the abuse came to light, were made to live in a "concentration camp-like setting," Utah prosecutor Eric Clarke said in court.
Ruby Franke, a mother of six, was arrested in August 2023
Image credits: moms_of_truth
The arrest of Ruby took place last year after her malnourished 12-year-old son escaped from the home of Jodi Hildebrandt — a self-improvement counselor who was also Ruby’s former business partner.
The boy, who had open wounds and duct tape around his ankles and wrists, managed to escape by climbing out of a window in Jodi’s home and running to a neighbor’s house, asking for food and water.
Ruby’s daughter was also found in a similar malnourished state in Jodi’s home.
"The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment," Eric said.
The abuse came to light after Ruby's son escaped and ran to a neighbor's house, asking for food and water
Ruby and Jodi each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse after being accused of attempting to convince Ruby’s two children that they were evil, possessed, and needed to be punished to repent.
Eric said in court that Ruby appeared remorseful and cooperated with attorneys in the events after her arrest.
"I was led to believe that this world was an evil place, filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need abuse," Ruby said as she tearfully apologized in court during her Tuesday sentencing.
Ruby ran a YouTube channel offering parenting advice to over 2.3 million followers before her arrest
Prior to her arrest, Ruby gained a substantial online following and earned recognition as a parenting video blogger. Her content showcased what seemed to be a typical Mormon family engaged in home-schooling and also preparing meals and dining together.
However, in 2020, skepticism among her audience grew when one of her sons revealed he had been made to sleep on a bean bag for months.
Her audience eventually started finding red flags in her videos and suspected abuse
Followers on YouTube began sieving through her past videos and noted how Ruby deployed harsh tactics with her children, including denying them food, threatening to cut off a stuffed animal’s head, and punishing them by "canceling" Christmas.
On Tuesday, Ruby and Jodi received an identical sentence after the judge sentenced them to four terms of 1 to 15 years each. They both have a 30-day period to appeal their sentences.