Who is Ruby Franke? Everything we know about the family vlogger’s rise to fame before child abuse charges
Ruby Franke, a Utah mother of six, who once operated her own YouTube channel about her life, was sentenced to prison two months after pleading guilty to a number of child abuse charges.
Franke first made headlines back in 2015 for her controversial parenting advice shared on the YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which featured her husband Kevin Franke and their children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve. The now-deleted channel was once popular, having accumulated more than two million subscribers before speculation and concern began to mount in 2020 about the family’s daily activities.
Two years later, the Utah-based mother went on to announce that she was joining a new YouTube channel called ConneXions – which has since been deleted – alongside Jodi Nan Hildebrandt. The pair also sparked controversy with their videos, including one in which they made claims about what loving children unconditionally means.
In August, both Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrandt’s house and ran to a neighbour who called 911. The boy was malnourished and had visible injuries with duct tape on his limbs.
The boy would later tell investigators that Hildebrandt would put cayenne pepper and honey on wounds that were caused by being tied with the rope, according to arrest warrants.
In a press
