Although viewers of the viral YouTube channel “8 Passengers” were familiar with Ruby Franke’s controversial parenting, they never expected the Utah mom behind the channel to be arrested on charges of child abuse.
Ruby Franke began her family vlogging YouTube channel titled “8 Passengers” in 2016. The channel featured Ruby, her husband Kevin Franke, and their six children. Their channel started as a big family sharing how they live on a day to day basis, which caused them to quickly grow millions of subscribers. Fans have always noticed Franke’s interesting ways of parenting and punishing her six children. After many years of growing their Youtube channel, Ruby Franke met Jodi Hildebrandt while looking for a family therapist. Hildebrandt branded herself as an educator and therapist who ran a counseling service called “ConneXtions.” It did not take long for Franke and Hildebrandt to build a close relationship and viewers quickly noticed how Franke’s parenting style had immensely changed after that. Her punishments for her children were questioned several times but eventually overlooked. For example, in a 2020 video Franke explained how she took away her oldest son Chad’s bedroom for seven months after he played a prank on his sibling. There are also plenty of YouTube videos showing Franke denying her children food and punishing them if they ate without permission.
That all changed when her 10-year-old son snuck out of the window from Jodi Hildebrandt’s Utah home to ask their neighbor for food and water. According to the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, the police were called and the child and his 12-year-old sister were found “emaciated and malnourished with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities.” The two children were taken to a nearby hospital and all four of Franke’s minor children were taken into Child Protective Services the same day.
After the children were taken away, police searched Franke’s home and found enough evidence to arrest both her and Jodi Hildebrandt. Both women were arrested Aug. 30 on six felony counts of aggravated child abuse.
According to Rolling Stone, on Sept 8, Hildebrandt’s attorneys filed a motion for an expedited hearing on the grounds that the YouTuber has experienced a life-threatening medical issue while in jail which caused her to be hospitalized for days. According to People Magazine, Franke was also moved to the medical block of Washington County jail on the same day. Their medical issues still remain unclear. Both women were set to have their hearing this month, but it was postponed until after Oct. 5. They will stay in jail until then without bond.
