In a recently released video from the day his mother and her business partner were apprehended on child abuse charges in southern Utah, the malnourished and badly bruised son of a parenting advice YouTuber politely approaches a neighbor, seeking help to reach the nearest police station. The 12-year-old son of Ruby Franke, a mother known for dispensing advice on YouTube, managed to escape through a window and sought assistance from nearby homes until someone answered the door, according to documents disclosed by the Washington County Attorney’s office.
Crime scene photographs, body camera footage, and interrogation recordings were made public a month following the sentencing of Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, to up to 30 years in prison. A police investigation revealed that religious extremism drove the women to inflict severe abuse on Franke’s children, as announced by Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke.
Franke, 42, and Hildebrandt, 54, admitted to four counts of aggravated child abuse, including convincing Franke’s two youngest children of their inherent evilness and subjecting them to manual labor, prolonged fasting, and conditions described by Clarke as reminiscent of “concentration camp-like” settings.
The women, purportedly affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were arrested last August at Hildebrandt’s residence in Ivins, a serene suburb of St. George after their neighbor Danny Clarkson found the emaciated boy at his doorstep. Their actions have drawn condemnation from other Mormon parenting bloggers who assert that Franke and Hildebrandt misrepresented their community and religion.
In the video footage, the boy, wearing torn socks and his ankles wrapped in bloody duct tape and plastic wrap, approaches Clarkson’s door. Clarkson and his wife, Debi, are captured on their Ring camera assisting the child, calling 911, and inquiring about his injuries, which the boy attributes to himself.
“I got these wounds because of me,” the boy tells the couple as they express concern. He later informs first responders that his younger sister remains at Hildebrandt’s residence, prompting police to swiftly intervene.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Hildebrandt had bound the boy’s arms and feet with rope, attaching them to weights on the ground. She also treated his wounds with a mixture of cayenne pepper and honey, as per the police report. Franke and Hildebrandt purportedly justified their actions to the children as acts of love.
In handwritten journal entries, Franke documents months of systematic abuse, including starvation, forced labor, and isolation. Franke repeatedly insists in her journal that her son is possessed by the devil. She justifies withholding food and water from him, stating, “I will not feed a demon.”
Body camera footage depicts officers entering Hildebrandt’s residence, detaining her, and rescuing the young girl found sitting in a dark closet. Franke describes shaving the girl’s head multiple times for complaining, emphasizing, “If she is going to act sick, she can look sick.”
Ruby Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, gained prominence with their “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, chronicling their experiences raising six children in a Mormon community. Ruby also collaborated with Hildebrandt’s counseling company, ConneXions Classroom, offering parenting seminars and publishing content on their shared social media platforms.
The Franke family faced criticism online for various incidents, including banning their eldest son from his bedroom for seven months and refusing to take lunch to a kindergartener who forgot it at home. Following Ruby Franke’s arrest, Kevin Franke filed for divorce and has since pursued custody of their minor children, who were placed in state custody.
