American parenting advice YouTuber Ruby Franke sentenced for child abuse
A 42-year-old parenting advice vlogger from Utah, United States, has been sentenced to at least four years in prison for child abuse. Ex-YouTuber Ruby Franke and her former associate, 52-year-old Jodi Hildebrandt, received identical sentences on Tuesday (local time). Hilderbrandt was accused of helping abuse Franke's children. Both will serve four consecutive terms of one to 15 years, with the state's parole board deciding their actual time behind bars. Franke was given 30 days to appeal against her sentence.
Franke's son escaped, sought help from neighbors
According to a Utah prosecutor, two of Franke's children lived in a "concentration camp-like setting." She has six children. The abuse was discovered when Franke's 12-year-old malnourished son escaped Hildebrandt's home and sought help from a neighbor. He reportedly had lacerations on his body. Police records indicate that the children endured beatings, were bound, forced into labor without sunscreen resulting in severe sunburns, and subjected to other forms of mistreatment and abuse.
Franke's YouTube channel was deleted in 2022
Franke had over two million subscribers on her YouTube channel "8 Passengers," which documented her family's life. However, in 2020, suspicions arose when her son, Chad, mentioned being forced to sleep on a bean bag for seven months. The channel's popularity declined, and it was eventually deleted in 2022. Notably, both Franke and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty in the case last month.
Controversial methods used by Franke
During the trial, Hildebrandt recalled that she forced one of Franke's daughters to "jump into a cactus multiple times." Earlier, Franke's followers, who combed through her videos, said they had discovered controversial methods used by the mother of six. According to reports, she had withheld food from her children, threatened to chop the head off a toy stuffed animal, and canceled Christmas as punishment.
Franke apologizes to her children
In the aftermath of sentencing, Franke apologized to her children, saying she "believed dark was light and right was wrong." "I took from you all that was soft, safe, and good," she said "My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me," she added. Franke further admitted that she had believed that her children were "possesed by evil" and needed to repent.
