A tragic case of severe child abuse has come to light in southern Utah, after the malnourished 12-year-old son of Ruby Franke, a popular parenting YouTuber, escaped through a window and pleaded with neighbors to call the police.
The disturbing incident revealed that Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, a mental health counselor, inflicted horrific abuse on Franke’s children motivated by religious extremism.
Newly released evidence, including crime scene photos, body camera footage, and journal entries, paint a harrowing picture of the abuse endured by Franke’s two youngest children, ages 9 and 12. The women, who were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison last month, justified torturing the kids by claiming it was necessary to expel evil spirits and atone for imagined sins.
The Washington County Attorney, Eric Clarke, stated that:
“The women appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined ‘sins’ and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies.”
The abuse included forcing the children to engage in harsh manual labor, subjecting them to days-long fasting, and keeping them in concentration camp-like conditions. According to the police, the 12-year-old boy had had his arms and legs bound and weighed down, while wounds were treated with excruciatingly painful concoctions like cayenne pepper and honey.
In her disturbing 60-page journal, Ruby Franke chronicled holding her son’s head underwater, withholding food and water, and shaving her 9-year-old daughter’s head, justifying it all as necessary to save them from demonic possession.
The abuse was finally exposed when the emaciated 12-year-old escaped through a window of Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins last August. Newly released doorbell camera footage shows the boy, with bloodied ankles wrapped in duct tape, calmly asking a neighbor to call the police.
The two women, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have been condemned by other parent bloggers for misrepresentation. Ruby Franke had amassed a large online following with her “8 Passengers” YouTube channel documenting her family life before her disturbing descent into abuse.
As Franke’s four minor children remain in state custody, her estranged husband Kevin Franke has filed for divorce and repeatedly petitioned to regain custody, having been unaware of the torture his kids endured.
