Ruby Franke pleaded guilty to cruel treatment of children and was sentenced to 4−60 years in prison
28 february 2025 в 21:37
Ruby Franke admitted to committing a crime of child abuse as part of a guilty plea deal on Monday, December 18, 2023, as reported by NBC News. She appeared in court in Washington County, Utah. «With deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, I am guilty», - she said in court at the end of 2023. The former YouTube star, 42-year-old Ruby, was then sentenced on February 20, 2024. Ruby was sentenced to four to 60 years in prison on four counts of child abuse, as reported by Business Insider.
The 42-year-old woman and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt will not serve more than 30 years, as the publication reported that Utah law «prohibits punishments exceeding» this term. On the day of sentencing, the judge ordered Ruby to serve a sentence «from one to 15 years for each of the four charges» consecutively.
Franke started her YouTube channel «8 Passengers» in 2015, and she became known on the site thanks to her daily vlogs. She posted videos every day, sharing about her life with her six children and husband in Utah. The channel was later closed, but at one point it had 2.5 million subscribers, as reported by The New York Times. The videos attracted attention for their strict parenting style, as well as daily glimpses into their lives.
Viewers began to express concern for Franke’s children in 2020, when one of her sons said he had been sleeping on a beanbag chair for several months as punishment, according to The Washington Post. In other videos, she talked about allowing one of her daughters to go hungry to learn to pack her own lunch, and another instance where one of her daughters lost «dinner privileges». Fans started a petition on Change.org to try to get an investigation into her actions.
After Franke was arrested, her eldest daughter Shari said that she and her family members had been trying to warn authorities for a long time on Instagram Story. «We tried to tell the police and CPS about this for many years», - she said.
Franke’s three sisters are also influential figures in the family, and after their sister’s arrest, two of them released a joint statement supporting their sister’s arrest. «Behind the scenes, we did everything we could to make sure the children were safe», - they said. «Ruby was arrested, which had to happen. Jodi was arrested, which had to happen. The children are now safe, which is the main priority».
Franke and her business partner Jodi Nan Hildebrandt were arrested on August 30, 2023, after one of the blogger’s children ran to the neighbors and asked them to call 911. The police reported that he was exhausted and had tape on his wrists and ankles, with unclear reasons for this, as reported by The Guardian. When the police arrived at Franke’s house, they found another of her daughters who also looked exhausted. Her son claimed that Hildebrandt tied his hands with rope and used cayenne pepper and honey on the wounds caused by the rope. Both children, as well as two other minors of Franke, were taken into state custody.
After it was known that Franke had pleaded guilty, Washington County prosecutor Eric Clark made a statement, as reported by The Times. «We are pleased that Miss Franke has taken responsibility for her criminal actions and that justice is being served to the fullest extent in this type of situation», - he said.
During her sentencing in February 2024, Ruby reportedly cried in response to the sentence. «I was misled to believe that this world is evil, full of police who control, hospitals that harm, government agencies that manipulate, church leaders who lie and thirst, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need to be treated cruelly», - she said. «My choice to believe and behave in this paranoia led to criminal activity, for which I stand before you today, ready to take responsibility».
«Now I see that for the past four years I have been in a deep underground, which led us»
The 42-year-old woman and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt will not serve more than 30 years, as the publication reported that Utah law «prohibits punishments exceeding» this term. On the day of sentencing, the judge ordered Ruby to serve a sentence «from one to 15 years for each of the four charges» consecutively.
Franke started her YouTube channel «8 Passengers» in 2015, and she became known on the site thanks to her daily vlogs. She posted videos every day, sharing about her life with her six children and husband in Utah. The channel was later closed, but at one point it had 2.5 million subscribers, as reported by The New York Times. The videos attracted attention for their strict parenting style, as well as daily glimpses into their lives.
Viewers began to express concern for Franke’s children in 2020, when one of her sons said he had been sleeping on a beanbag chair for several months as punishment, according to The Washington Post. In other videos, she talked about allowing one of her daughters to go hungry to learn to pack her own lunch, and another instance where one of her daughters lost «dinner privileges». Fans started a petition on Change.org to try to get an investigation into her actions.
After Franke was arrested, her eldest daughter Shari said that she and her family members had been trying to warn authorities for a long time on Instagram Story. «We tried to tell the police and CPS about this for many years», - she said.
Franke’s three sisters are also influential figures in the family, and after their sister’s arrest, two of them released a joint statement supporting their sister’s arrest. «Behind the scenes, we did everything we could to make sure the children were safe», - they said. «Ruby was arrested, which had to happen. Jodi was arrested, which had to happen. The children are now safe, which is the main priority».
Franke and her business partner Jodi Nan Hildebrandt were arrested on August 30, 2023, after one of the blogger’s children ran to the neighbors and asked them to call 911. The police reported that he was exhausted and had tape on his wrists and ankles, with unclear reasons for this, as reported by The Guardian. When the police arrived at Franke’s house, they found another of her daughters who also looked exhausted. Her son claimed that Hildebrandt tied his hands with rope and used cayenne pepper and honey on the wounds caused by the rope. Both children, as well as two other minors of Franke, were taken into state custody.
After it was known that Franke had pleaded guilty, Washington County prosecutor Eric Clark made a statement, as reported by The Times. «We are pleased that Miss Franke has taken responsibility for her criminal actions and that justice is being served to the fullest extent in this type of situation», - he said.
During her sentencing in February 2024, Ruby reportedly cried in response to the sentence. «I was misled to believe that this world is evil, full of police who control, hospitals that harm, government agencies that manipulate, church leaders who lie and thirst, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need to be treated cruelly», - she said. «My choice to believe and behave in this paranoia led to criminal activity, for which I stand before you today, ready to take responsibility».
«Now I see that for the past four years I have been in a deep underground, which led us»
© Kolganov Andrey
