Ruby Franke, a once-popular online mom influencer with millions of followers, has been sentenced to four one- to 15-year terms in prison for child abuse.
Franke pleaded guilty in December to four counts of aggravated abuse against her children. She and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, had each been charged with six counts of felony child abuse in September.
Utah Judge John J. Walton sentenced both to four one- to 15-year terms on Tuesday, but state law limits the maximum aggregate sentence for consecutive terms to 30 years. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will determine the length of time they will spend behind bars, NBC News reported.
For years, the 42-year-old mother documented her strict parenting style with her husband Kevin Franke and her six children on her YouTube channel, “8 Passengers.” She and Hildebrandt also doled out parenting advice in videos.
Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023 after one of the children escaped Hildebrandt’s home and went to a neighbor’s house asking for food and water. Police said the child, who appeared emaciated and malnourished, had duct tape on his wrists and ankles, as well as open wounds that had been treated with cayenne pepper and honey.
At her sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Franke addressed her children between tears, calling them her “six little chicks” and apologizing.
“I can see now that over the past four years, I was in a deep undercurrent that led us to danger,” she said. “I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong.”
Franke’s extreme parenting style had alarmed followers even before her arrest. Viewers expressed concerns about her threats to deprive her children of food as a form of punishment, and in 2020, viewers called local child protective services after her teen son said in a video that he had slept on a beanbag for seven months.
But the reality was much worse behind the scenes. As The Associated Press reported:
Franke admitted in her…
Read the full article here
