YouTube mom Ruby Franke is jailed for up to 60 years on child abuse charges

Former YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke, a mother of six who used to give parenting advice to millions online, broke down in tears as she spoke to the court on Tuesday just before a Utah judge handed down four 1-15-year sentences in prison, one for each of the four counts of child abuse to which she pleaded guilty in December.

Her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, received the same sentence as Franke. They will serve their sentences consecutively, as determined by their plea agreements. The two women face four to 60 years in prison, a decision that will be made by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole at a later date.

On Tuesday, Franke shared a tearful apology to her children for physically and emotionally abusing them.

“I’ll never stop crying for hurting your tender souls,” Franke said to her children who were not at the hearing. “My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you all that was soft and safe and good.”

Franke told Judge Walton that she would not argue for a shorter sentence before she stood to thank local police officers, doctors and social workers for being the “angels” who saved her children from her at a time when she says she was under the influence of her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt.

“I was led to believe the world was an evil place,” Franke said. “For the past four years, I have chosen to follow counsel and guidance that have led me to a dark delusion.”

Franke and Hildebrandt had each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse for trying to convince Franke’s two youngest children that they were evil, possessed and needed to be punished to repent.

The disgraced vlogger once ran a channel documenting her family’s life and even gave online parental advice, drawing in millions of subscribers. But her reputation unravelled when she and Hildebrandt were suddenly arrested in August 2023 for abusing her children.

The abuse allegations came to light after one of Franke’s sons escaped Hildebrandt’s home and fled to a neighbour’s home, who called 911. The 12-year-old boy was malnourished, had multiple open wounds and was bound with duct tape. Police then found another child also suffering abuse at the home.

The boy later told investigators that Hildebrandt would put cayenne pepper and honey on their wounds that were caused by being tied with the rope, according to arrest warrants.

Hildebrandt’s sentencing was held shortly after Franke’s on Tuesday.

The prosecution called Hildebrandt a “risk to the community” and said she had shown no remorse for her actions.

Hildebrandt’s attorney Douglas Terry said, “my experience with Ms. Hildebrandt is she is not the person she has been portrayed to be.”

Hildebrandt gave a short statement, “I sincerely love these children. One of the reasons I didn’t go to trial is I didn’t want them to relive this. I desire for them to heal physically and emotionally.”

Judge Walton then spoke directly to Hildebrandt before imposing her sentence.

“This circumstance is largely of your making. Your conduct was disastrous for these children. In this case, you terrorized children.”

In December, both women each pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse and agreed to serve time in prison.

While viewers were often concerned about the couple’s harsh parenting styles on their channel “8 Passengers”, such as handing out punishments, including the withholding of food and Christmas presents, it was not until August 2023 that Franke found herself in custody after some of her children were discovered in unimaginable conditions.

The now-deleted channel debuted back in 2015 and accumulated over two million subscribers before speculation began to mount in 2020 about the family’s activities.