A YouTube mom has been recognized for torturing and starving her two children in a Utah court on Monday as part of a plea deal in which she pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated child abuse, according to multiple reports, amid allegations that her business partner systematically “isolated” her from her family while they worked together to build an audience on YouTube.
Key Information
Ruby Franke, who rose to fame as an “influencer mom” through her YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” entered a guilty plea on Monday after her attorney alleged that her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, exploited her and ensured she was “systematically isolated” from her family.
Hildebrandt and Franke were arrested and charged with child abuse in August.
The details of the case are unclear, but the couple’s arrest came after Franke’s 12-year-old son, who was taped at the ankles and wrists, claimed he crawled out of a window at Hildebrandt’s home and ran to a neighbor’s house, who later told police that he appeared “thin and malnourished, with open wounds and tape around his limbs.”
The child told investigators that “Jodi” had tied him up and used hot pepper and honey to treat the wounds caused by the ropes, according to the Associated Press.
Hildebrandt and Franke, who ran a YouTube channel called “ConneXions” promising to “provide you with the training you need to create joy in your life and relationships,” appeared together in court on September 8, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Franke and Hildebrandt have been held without bail for over three months, and Hildebrandt voluntarily surrendered her counseling license in September, while Kevin Franke, Ruby’s husband who documented their parenting style on the “8 Passengers” account alongside his wife, filed for divorce in November.
Hildebrandt is scheduled to appear in court in a hearing on December 27, and attorneys for Franke and Hildebrandt did not respond to Forbes’ request for comment on Monday.
Key Quote
Winward Law stated: “For a long period, Jodi Hildebrandt isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family and older children and her husband Kevin Franke. This prolonged isolation led Ms. Franke to develop a distorted sense of morality, shaped by the influence of Jodi Hildebrandt,” according to a Winward Law statement. “We strongly believe that Ms. Franke is a devoted mother, but unfortunately, she has been misled.”
Main Background
The “8 Passengers” channel, which documented the lives of Ruby and Kevin Franke alongside their six children, had over 2.2 million subscribers before being abruptly removed earlier this year. The channel was a frequent target of criticism over the Frankes’ discipline methods, including allegations that she starved her 6-year-old daughter after the child forgot her lunch at school and Franke refused to take her. Viewers contacted local child protective services in 2020 after their teenage son claimed his room was taken away as punishment and that he slept on a bean bag for seven months. Franke created the “ConneXions” account with Hildebrandt last summer, which was also criticized by viewers as extreme and manipulative. The YouTube channel, which has since been removed, aimed to “help those lost and trapped in the darkness of distortion.” It remains unclear how Hildebrandt and Franke met and how long they have known each other. Shari Franke, 20, posted on Instagram after her mother’s arrest that she and her family had been working for years to get the attention of child protective services. An arrest warrant alleged that Franke “was aware of the abuse and neglect and malnourishment” of children at Hildebrandt’s home, according to Business Insider, which noted that she filmed videos at the house just two days before her arrest.
Note
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Although family vlogging was previously harmless, it has faced criticism from children who experienced live broadcasting and online experts who say it invades their privacy and exposes them to exploitation. An investigation by The New York Times in 2019 revealed that YouTube’s search algorithm could serve live-streaming videos of families to viewers who had watched other videos of “prepubescent children with exposed upper bodies.” Additionally, many “mommy vloggers” have been arrested in recent years, including YouTube star Michelle Hobson, who was accused in 2019 of physically abusing her seven adopted children and hitting them if they did not want to appear in the video. She died before her trial. Jessica Gasser was arrested and pleaded not guilty in Texas this summer to charges of medical child abuse, known as “Munchausen by proxy,” and Taylor Frankie Paul, a regular figure on “Mom TikTok,” pleaded guilty several months ago to domestic violence in the presence of a child, among other charges.
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