Controversial Mommy Vlogger Ruby Franke Found Guilty Of Child Abuse, Sentenced To Four Consecutive 15-Year Prison Sentences

Well-known "momfluencer" Ruby Franke and her counselor Jodi Hildebrandt were both sentenced to four consecutive 15-year prison sentences for child abuse this week, bringing an end to a gripping case that went viral last year. They will serve 30 years, as Utah law prohibits serving consecutive sentences for longer than 30 years.

Franke was arrested after one of her youngest children escaped from her home and was found malnourished with duct tape around his wrists and ankles. Jodi Hildebrandt, who worked with Franke on her YouTube channel and in a cult-like endeavor called ConneXions, was also found guilty of child abuse after evidence led police to investigate her home, where they found abused children.

The two were officially charged with "causing or permitting serious injury" to the children via “a combination of multiple physical injuries or torture, starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life, and causing severe emotional harm."

Franke ran a YouTube channel called 8Passengers on which she vlogged about parenting her six children. There, her behavior alarmed viewers, as she often dished out draconian punishments to her children, including threatening to take dinner from one of her children, her husband going through one of the children's texts, one child claiming he's been sleeping on a beanbag chair for seven months after Ruby took his bedroom privileges away and Franke threatening to cut the head off her daughter's stuffed animal.

She had over 2 million subscribers before the channel was deleted in 2023.

The content of the channel eventually led viewers to call child protective services against Franke in 2020, but the case was closed due to a lack of wrongdoing found at the time. Neighbors and some of Franke's children had attempted to contact authorities to step in for some time in the years after, to no avail.

A report from after Franke's arrest says police were called on the Franke house in September 2022, though nothing came of it. Police said this was because when they went to investigate, the children would not answer the door.

Throughout the trial, Franke's children have expressed joy and relief on social media that she was facing consequences for her actions. Notably, Ruby's son Chad was filmed in a TikTok joyfully dancing over a caption that read "My mom is in prison."