Ruby Franke gained millions of subscribers to her parental advice YouTube. Now she’s accused of child abuse

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

“8Passengers” was a space where Ruby Franke would share her and her family’s life in Utah on YouTube.

The channel was focused on sharing parental advice as well as family vlogs featuring the 41-year-old mother, her husband, Kevin Franke and six children.

The couple first founded their now-deleted channel back in 2015 and accumulated over two million subscribers before speculation began to mount in 2020 about their activities.

Viewers were often concerned about the couple’s harsh parenting styles, handing out punishments, including the withholding of food and Christmas presents.

The channel eventually was deleted, but Ms Franke joined forces with another YouTuber, Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, to dish out their parenting advice and mental wellbeing tips in videos.

Yet one day in August, Ms Franke’s 12-year-old son allegedly escaped Ms Hildebrandt’s home and was found with wounds and was emaciated; his sister later found in a similar condition.

Ms Franke and Ms Hildebrandt were both arrested and charged with six counts of child abuse.

Each of the child abuse counts carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted, according to the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

But how did the parental-advice-giving family vlogger end up in custody for these charges, what role did Ms Hildebrandt play, and where was her husband when all of this was going down?

Here’s everything we know about the case of Ruby Franke:

Children “malnourished” with “open wounds”

On the morning of 30 August, Ms Franke’s 12-year-old son climbed out of the window of Ms Hildebrandt’s home, escaped the property and ran over to a neighbour’s house asking for food and water, according to arrest records.

The caller told officials that the child appeared to be “emaciated” and “malnourished” and had open wounds and “duct tape around the extremities,” the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety said.

Arrest records noted that the boy had “deep lacerations” due to “being tied up with rope.”

Authorities said that the 12-year-old’s condition was “so severe” he was seen by emergency responders and was taken to hospital.

Following this, police received information that other children may also be at risk at Ms Hildebrandt’s home.

Officers arrived at the home and carried out a search, where they found another child, a 10-year-old girl, in a “similar physical condition of malnourishment” and was also transported by EMS to hospital for treatment.

Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety said that the Department of Child and Family Services was contacted, and four minor children were taken into the agency’s care.

Ms Franke and Ms Hildebrandt were then both arrested that same day and later charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse.

The affidavit acknowledged that two days before the incident, “Ruby Franke was seen on a YouTube video filmed in Mr Hildebrandt’s downstairs,” which showcased that the women were “present in the home and having knowledge of the abuse, malnourishment, and neglect.”

The 12-year-old boy later told police that Ms Hildebrandt would put cayenne pepper and honey on their wounds that were caused by being tied with the rope, warrants detailed.

The warrant also revealed that officers found “Scott’s Take and Saran wrap,” as well as papers, notes, a journal, two bowls containing a red liquid with a metal spoon, two super absorbent dressings, two “Coban bandages” with four white ankle socks, three sets of “a brown and white rope”, two handcuffs and three carabiners.

The second search warrant revealed that three Apple iPhones and four Apple MacBooks were seized.

Officers also allegedly found a “possible safe room” in the basement of Ms Hildebrandt’s home, records state.

Appearances in court

Ms Franke and Ms Hildebrandt appeared in court for the first time on 8 September, which later was sent into chaos due to over 1,000 people tuning into the livestream, and were told to quiet down numerous times.

The two women were being held without bail, and Ms Franke, at that time, had reportedly been moved to the medical unit of the jail, but for unknown reasons.

“There are two juvenile victims in these cases, and each defendant is accused of causing or permitting serious physical injury to the victims in three different ways: (1) a combination of multiple physical injuries or torture, (2) starvation or malnutrition that jeopardises life, and (3) causing severe emotional harm,” the county attorney said.

Ms Franke also appeared in juvenile court via video call the day before for a shelter hearing for her four minor children when she made a shocking claim about one of her children.

She alleged that one of her children had been sexually abusing a younger sibling and had confessed in the past to sexually abusing 20 people, she said according to a report by The Daily Mail.

In response, the judge said this child “will then need to be placed in a home with no other children.”

Expected to enter a plea deal

Ms Franke’s lawyers shared a statement in mid-December that they would enter a plea agreement on her charges, saying they wanted to “resolve this matter quickly.”

The statement, put out by Winward Law, is the first time Ms Franke and her legal team have acknowledged her charges and said that Ms Franke was a “devoted mother” and “committed to constant improvement”.

It also added that they believed Ms Hildebrandt “took advantage” of Ms Franke’s “quest” for improvement and “twisted it into something heinous”.

“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,” the statement said.

They said she is also committed to helping their children reunite with their father.

“Despite the pain, she respects his decisions and remains hopeful that, with time, she can contribute to rebuilding trust and fostering understanding within their family,” the statement added.

Ms Franke is due to appear in court at 11am on 18 December for her expected plea deal.

Kevin Franke denies knowing and files for divorce

Kevin Franke broke his silence over a month after his wife was arrested, claiming he was estranged from Ms Franke and his family and had no knowledge the alleged child abuse was happening.

The husband, who also appeared frequently on 8 Passengers, said that at the point of Ms Franke’s arrest, he was separated from his wife for 13 months and had no contact with his children during that time, Randy Kester, Mr Franke’s attorney, told Law&Crime.

He claimed that Ms Hildebrandt had some part to play in his estrangement, saying his dynamic with his wife changed after the two women became business partners.

He said Ms Hildebrandt “manipulated” him and “destroyed his family.”

Ms Franke allegedly told her husband that they both needed to work on their marriage but that it would be better if he moved out and did not communicate with the children.

As for the alleged child abuse, “Kevin never had any reason to believe that his children were being abused,” Mr Kester claimed.

“He’s a good dad. He just simply does not condone physical violence or that kind of treatment of children or anyone,” he added.

The attorney said that Mr Kester is working on getting back custody of his younger children while his wife remains behind bars.

Mr Franke was, however, trying to get his oldest daughter, 20-year-old Shari Franke, arrested for stealing electronics and passports two days after the child abuse arrests, saying she was not lawfully allowed in their home.

Shari, who cut ties with her parents a while before the arrests, said she was unaware she wasn’t able to come back to her parent’s house and returned the items, according to a report obtained by Fox News.

Her father allegedly threatened to sue the police department because she was not charged with anything.

Mr Franke has since also filed for divorce from his wife.

In a statement by Winward Law, Ms Franke’s lawyers, they said she was “devastated” by her husband, Kevin Franke’s, request for divorce but understood why he would.

In a domestic relations injunction obtained by NBC News, Kevin Franke filed for divorce in the 4th District Court of Utah in early December.

The filing means the two parties are prohibited from harassing each other, committing domestic violence against each other or their children or disparaging each other to their kids, according to the injunction.

The injunction is effective until a divorce is finalised, the petition is dismissed, or the parties agree to dissolve it.

Concerns over 8Passengers

Mr and Mrs Franke both received criticism over the years from viewers on parenting decisions they documented on their channel.

This included banning their oldest son from his bedroom for seven months for pranking his younger brother and Ms Franke refusing to take lunch to a kindergartener who forgot it at home.

Other incidents that raised alarm bells for viewers was the parents telling their two youngest children that they would not be getting presents from Santa Claus for being selfish and withholding food from their children.

Their actions on the channel prompted viewers to create an online petition in 2020 after they saw this incident and other examples of harsh punishments, prompting child services to be called.

Shari Franke also called the police on her parents in September 2022, around a year before her mother was arrested, to report her brothers and sisters had been left home alone for days, according to police reports.

Records show officers stopped by the house four more times from 22 September to 3 October.

‘Justice is being served’ 

Following her mother’s arrest, Shari Franke, 20, has taken to Instagram to make several statements about the situation, notably posting a photo of a police car and an officer and writing: “Finally.”

“Me and my family are so glad justice is being served,” she wrote in another post. “We’ve been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they decided to finally step up. Kids are safe, but there’s a long road ahead.”

Ms Franke’s sisters, Ellie Mecham, Julie Deru and Bonnie Hoellein, released a statement saying that, for the last three years, they have kept “quiet” on the subject of their sibling “for the sake of her children”.

The post said: “For the last 3 years, we have kept quiet on the subject of our sister Ruby Franke for the sake of her children. Behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe.

“Ruby was arrested, which needed to happen. Jodi was arrested, which needed to happen. The kids are now safe, which is the number one priority.”