Franke was arrested after police discovered her emaciated 12-year-old son.
Ruby Franke, the YouTuber and mother of six behind the now-defunct family channel 8 Passengers has been formally charged with six counts of felony child abuse. Per NBC News, each count carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Franke’s “emaciated” son discovered by police
Franke was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt last week after police discovered her 12-year-old son in a terrible condition. The boy had escaped through a window and run to a neighbor for help. The Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department said in a press release Thursday that the boy was “emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities.”
“The condition of the juvenile was so severe that they were seen by Santa Clara-Ivins EMS and transported to a local area hospital,” it continued.
According to the affidavit, the boy was placed on a medical hold “due to his deep lacerations from being tied up with rope and from his malnourishment.”
Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was discovered in a similarly distressing state at Ms. Hildebrandt’s home, and was immediately taken to the hospital. Franke’s other four children were transferred to Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services.
The children appear to have been under Hildebrandt’s care, and both she and Franke had knowledge of “the abuse, malnourishment and neglect,” per the affidavit. Police said in a statement that a search of Hildebrandt’s home revealed evidence consistent with the markings on the 12-year-old boy.
Both Franke and Hildebrandt have been denied bail due to the severity of the children’s injuries.
Franke’s neighbors had raised concerns about child safety
Franke’s neighbors have reportedly said they’d long been worried about the safety of her children. Franke’s family channel 8 Passengers, which she ran alongside her husband Kevin, drew criticism for its harsh parenting style. Per NBC News, Franke had a tendency to impose her strict views on neighbors as well.
“Everyone is just breathing a collective sigh of relief, because we thought they were going to come out of that house with body bags,” said one local after the police visited Franke’s home.
“I remember that she took away their Christmas one year,” the male neighbor said. He continued to explain that Franke would say things like “they’re not repenting correctly” — a Mormon term for “they’re sinning.”
After Franke kicked her husband Kevin out of the house, neighbors told NBC News that she’d leave the home for weeks at a time, leaving the children alone inside.
On September 8, NBC News reported that it had obtained a police report showing that officers were summoned to Franke’s home in 2022, after a neighbor raised concerns that the children had been alone there for several days.
The neighbor and others “immediately started telling about how the mother of the residence, Ruby Franke, will leave her children home for extended periods of time and go to St. George to spend time with her friend” Jodi Hildebrandt, the report said per NBC News.
The disturbing content on “8 Passengers”
Franke’s YouTube channel is now offline, but video still up on TikTok shows her describing her children as “literally starving” because she was refusing them food as a form of punishment.
Per Insider, one video featuring then-15-year-old Chad sparked a visit from child protection services. “My bedroom was taken away for seven months,” Chad said in the video. “I was sleeping on a beanbag since October.”
On another occasion, Franke refused to deliver a lunch to school, after a teacher informed her that her six-year-old daughter Eve had forgotten hers.
“But I responded and said, ‘Eve is responsible for making her own lunches in the morning, so the natural outcome is she is just going to be hungry,'” Ruby said to camera. “And hopefully nobody gives her food and nobody steps in and gives her lunch.”
