Ruby Franke, a once-popular mom influencer who offered parenting advice on Instagram and the now-defunct 8 Passengers YouTube channel, was arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse in Ivins, Utah.
In a press release that was issued, the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Dept. said that on Aug. 30, 2023, at about 10:50 a.m., “a report came into
our dispatch center regarding a juvenile asking for help. The calling party stated the juvenile appeared to be emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities. The juvenile was asking for food and water.” After obtaining a search warrant for the home in question, four children were “taken into the care of the Department of Child and Family Services,” according to the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Dept. release.
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were both booked and charged each with 6 counts of felony child abuse. Ruby and Jodi regullary made videos on the now banned YouTube channel “ConneXions” where the two would share relationship and parenting advice videos for the counselling service. The videos they posted to the YouTube channel “ConneXions” have been heavily criticized for its teachings that included the belief of them prioritizing principles of truth over their children.
Ruby Frankes strict parenting style led some viewers to report them to authorities. In June 2020, viewers called local child protective services on the parents after their then-15-year-old son Chad said in a video that he had slept on a beanbag for seven months and another incident that lead to a call to Child Protective Services was when Ruby Franke refused to bring her 6 year old daughter lunch and left her to starve all day instead
and threatened to throw away and cut up the child’s toys. It was revealed that Springville police visited the Franke home 15 times between 2019 and the time leading up to the arrests of Ruby Franke and JodI Hildebrandt.
When the news first broke of Ruby Franke and Jodi Hilderbrandt being arrested, Ruby Franke eldest daughter Shari Franke posted to her instagram story a picture of a group of officers cars and police officers with snipers drawn with the caption stating “Finally.” Shari Franke made several calls to police leading up to their arrest reporting her mom and asking for someone to check on the 4 younger children.
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt appeared in a Utah Court on September 8th, 2023 where they each faced 6 counts of felony child abuse. There was thousands of people joined the livestream and even more joined a stream on YouTube of this court appearance. Judge Eric Gentry ordered both Ruby Franke and Jodi H. to remain in jail with no possibility of bail. If Ruby and Jodi are convicted on all 6 counts of felony child abuse, They face a combined total of 180 years in federal prison, they would each be sentenced to 90 years.
