A mum influencer could be facing jail time after pleading guilty to child abuse.
YouTuber Ruby Franke was arrested in August after her son made it known to his neighbours that he was being abused and neglected.
The YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, which had 2.3 million subscribers, was where Utah parents Ruby and her husband Kevin Franke shared with viewers their parenting style and discipline methods.
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Franke, 41, appeared in court in Washington County, Utah on Monday (18 December) alongside her business partner Jodi Firebrandt, who the court heard the abuse of the children was allegedly encouraged by.
Franke argued in court that Firebrandt led her to a ‘distorted sense of morality’.
According to an affidavit filed by an officer of the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, the mother's 12-year-old son had climbed out of a window and run to a neighbours house to ask for food and water.
This subsequently led to her arrest after the neighbour flagged the neglect to law enforcement.
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The boy was found by police, allegedly injured with duct tape around his ankles for restraint purposes, and they later found that Franke had tied his wrists and ankles with rope, dressing the wounds with cayenne pepper and honey.
He was consequently rushed to hospital to be treated for malnourishment and deep skin cuts.
Upon police searching Franke’s house, authorities found her other children had been left in a similar state, and four of the six were taken in by child protection services.
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The court heard that Franke also tried to convince her youngest two that they were evil and possessed, and needed to be punished to repent.
Pleading guilty to the fourth charge, as well as another three, she said: “With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty.”
Police found that the 12-year-old was tortured severely between May and August, having to carry out summer work without enough water, and developed serious, blistered sunburns.
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The court heard that Franke manipulated her child to think that these punishments were acts of love.
Her 10-year-old daughter was a victim of similar abuse.
The neighbour who called 911, said on the phone call: “I think he’s been … he’s been detained.
“He’s obviously covered in wounds.”
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The Franke family openly shared some questionable parenting styles on their YouTube channel, including banning their eldest child from their bedroom for seven months.
But they didn’t quite share the extent of the torture their kids were experiencing.
The channel was created in 2015, and deleted after seven years of making content.
Franke's husband, Kevin, has since filed for divorce.
She is set to be sentenced by the court on 20 February, 2024. While Hildebrandt, who was also arrested, is set to appear in court on 27 December.
Mia Williams