The Rise and Fall of YouTube Mom Ruby Franke

it hurts me just as much as it hurts my kids a mom of six famous for her online parenting advice has a sudden and Swift Fall From Grace online who hate me who would like to cancel me who would like to see me um either burn in hell as I have told or um disappear off the face of the Earth and I'm not going anywhere the nation was captivated by the alarming allegations against Ruby Frankie and her business partner as both women sat behind bars anytime you go into battle you need to know the enemy but this battle ended with a guilty plea and an admission to heinous crimes against her own children with my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children guilty we're taking a deep dive into the rise and fall of Ruby Frankie from internet sensation to convicted child abuser welcome to sidebar presented by law on crime I'm Jesse Weber it has been a whirlwind case if you didn't know the name Ruby Frankie before August 2023 you certainly do now she was thrust into the spotlight in a big way and for all the wrong reasons because in August of 2023 that is when she and her business partner jod hilderbrand were both arrested out in Utah on charges of aggravated child abuse of Ruby's own children but her story starts long before then so let's do a deep dive into everything we know Ruby met Kevin Frankie and the two got married and had their first child in 2003 Kevin had worked as a civil engineering professor at Brigham Young University before reportedly leaving to start his own company Kevin had graduated from Utah State University for undergrad then University of Washington for his graduate degree and then eventually a doctorate from Brigham Young University in civil engineering we now know from court documents that Ruby finished high school but didn't attend college Kevin and Ruby were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints they lived in Utah they had six children together Sherry Chad Abby Julie Russell and Eve but now in 2015 Ruby and Kevin started the popular eight passengers Channel on YouTube and when I say popular this thing was a hit it had over two million subscribers a channel that documented the lives of the Frankie family I've never never once forgotten to Vlog like it's like forgetting to eat or forgetting to breathe for me like picking up the camera and vlogging it's like I would never forget to do that while Kevin sometimes participated in the videos Ruby was really the star of it giving out advice on things like Child Care parenting family Dynamics and religion I just felt felt this the spirit tell me everything's going to work out okay and I and then I had the thought you need to share this too on your video you need to let your viewers know that everything's going to be okay for them too her videos tended to be positive and upbeat with the occasional references to the drama and conflict that all families tend to go through there is no such thing as a family a home that is free of dysfunction every family has some level somewhere dysfunction doesn't mean you have to accept it and don't accept it if it's abusive but you know what if it's surface level I try to overlook it however in the last several years fellow YouTubers and viewers have called out Ruby Frankie for very concerning things they noticed in her videos for example Ruby posted about her youngest daughter Eve who was six at the time of this video apparently forgetting to pack her lunch for school but Ruby didn't seem too concerned about it I know that her teacher is uncomfortable with her being hungry and not having a lunch and it would ease her discomfort if I came to the school with a lunch um but I I responded and just said Eve is responsible for making her lunches in the morning and she actually told me she did pack a lunch so the natural outcome is she's is just going to need to be hungry now Ruby knew that some of her videos were starting to get blowback so she responded online who hate me who would like to cancel me who would like to see me um either burn in hell as I have told or um disappear off the face of the Earth and I'm not going anywhere one of the early signs of trouble that even prompted a report to Child Protective Services came after after a video that Ruby posted and it was centered on her eldest son Chad now to give you a little bit of background here then 15-year-old Chad was sent from Utah to a camp in Arizona called Anasazi it's a weeks long Wilderness Camp for troubled teens well when he got back he apparently played some pranks on his younger brother Russell whom he shared a bedroom with take a listen to what Chad and Mom Ruby had to say in a video that she posted and eventually took down in our house we when we take something away it's because they have shown that they are not responsible enough to manage it and so we don't just turn around and give it back as soon as they start acting good has to be consistent it has to be consistent over a minimum minimum of 6 months my bedroom was taken away for 7 months and then you give it back like a couple weeks ago I don't think our viewers know that you been sleeping on a bean bag I've sleeping on a bean bag since October and they gave my room back like 2 weeks ago oh I'll give you the reason why I lost my bedroom I think so I think this a reason at least this is the reason that's been my head so pretty funny but now I look back it's pretty depressing no we never told our viewers that I woke Russell up at 2:00 in the morning and told him that we're going to Disneyland and he has to pack and he got up and made his bed neatly and then packed all his clothes in the suitcase and then he walked out the door and I'm like Russ he's like why he all happy has his sunglasses on I was like we're not going to Disneyland and he started crying and hitting and then he went back to bed in tears and then so that that was that was not the reason you lost your room but that was well the other reason is cuz I pointed a BB gun on his face pointed a b gun at his face and hung him on the [Laughter] basketball basically basically like the day I got home too Chad came home from anastasi and Russ was like I want to try dunking the basketball and I lifted him up on the and he was and left him there 3 minutes and he was just hanging on there do you think it's funny because and then I walk out if you think it's funny then you that was 7 months ago maybe you need longer without a bedroom it it was not funny Chad showed that he was not able to manage himself sharing a bedroom with Russell so when we moved um the bigger room in the basement was automatically his and I didn't have a room but what you guys didn't know was Chad didn't get any room he didn't he didn't get anything he was sleeping on the floor in the family room it hurts me just as much as it hurts my kids so with all this going on almost 20,000 people signed a change.org petition urging an investigation into the Frankies Child Protective Services was called it was reported that the Division of Child and Family Services in Utah visited the home took a look around spoke with all the children but the case was closed because apparently there was not enough evidence to show abuse Ruby responded to that backlash as well however listening to all of your comments and your feedback I I think I understand where some people are coming from they're like oh the parents don't give their kids beds and I totally agree with that I know there are lots of children out there who parents are neglectful we got accused of child when we sent Chad to anastasi guess what the first thing that they did was take a bed away they they don't have beds so Chad slept on the hard ground for months and it's you know it's run by psychologists and therapists and if not having a bed was psychologically damaging then they wouldn't they wouldn't have suggested them by the way Ruby actually claimed in an interview with the rap that when these child protective Services Workers showed up to her home they asked her for parenting advice before leaving Ruby also said in an interview with quick media in 2022 quote I was slapped upside the face with shock that people didn't like responsibility I went overnight nearly from being this loved YouTube mom to being called a neglectful abusive mom I was shocked eventually Ruby starts posting less and less content to the eight passengers page it's eventually shut down and removed from YouTube although an exact reason wasn't really given but around that same time Ruby began working alongside a Utah mental health counselor therapist and fellow Mormon jod hilderbrand now jod was part of a life coaching and self-improvement business called connections classroom welcome to connections I'm jod hilderbrand so glad you're with us so jod was a licensed mental health counselor and at the time of this recording Ruby is still listed on the connections website as a quote certified mental fitness trainer although it seems that jod has been scrubbed from the site in 2012 though the Department of commerce's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing put hilderbrand's license on probation for 18 months for quote unprofessional conduct what was the unprofessional conduct well she was accused of discussing the private sensitive information of a patient with Mormon church leaders and Brigham Young University without the patient's permission but after that probation Ary period her license was apparently reinstated and I've shared with Ruby numerous times that anger is actually one of my most favorite emotion when I first started getting to know you she's like anger is my favorite emotion I'm like I don't know who I'm dealing with here Ruby and jod uploaded dozens and dozens of videos to social media under both the connections name and moms of Truth anytime you think I want fill in the blank I don't care what it is that is not love love is a is a gift that you offer because you have generated it inside yourself and how do you generate love well the the only way to generate love is you use your agency to choose principles of Truth and at one point Ruby let viewers know why she wasn't posting family videos anymore I have been full-time you wonder where I've been on my Vlogs you wonder why I left YouTube to save my kids no amount of money and and I'm telling you I was making millions and I left it because my kids were being hurt with entitlement they were being hurt with people's advice and they didn't have a mother up the front saying I don't care what the world's opinion is this is the truth and this is where I stand Kevin Frankie also played a role too he participated in these virtual group therapy sessions with Ruby focusing on topics like children religion sex marriage if you're married you have a commitment between the two of you you have made promises to each other and you have made promises to God now let's just take a second here we're going to get back into this but you know how much cases 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every year you can submit a claim at www. forthepeople.com LCS sidebar or by dialing pound law that's pound 529 on your phone all right let's get back into the Ruby Frankie Saga okay so now you have the backstory you have all the Players let's go to August 2023 when everything changes August 28th the connections Facebook page shared its last post and just Days Later two of the company's most prominent leaders would be behind bars and charged with child abuse on August 30th 2023 a neighbor of jod hilderbrand in Ivan Utah called police 911 the address of your emergency tell me exactly what's happened I just had a 12-year-old old boy show up here at my front door asking for help this kid is obious I think he's been he's been detained he's been he's obviously covered in wounds it is such a difficult call you can really hear just how painful it is for this caller to see what he's seeing Ruby's youngest son 12-year-old Russell had apparently escaped from Jody's home and took off looking for someone to help help him we know there's been problems at this neighbor's house he's emaciated he's got tape around his legs he's hungry and he's thirsty and First Responders rush to the house does have dark tape around each ankle he's not telling the RP why and said that there sores around his wrist and ankles he's becoming or correction the RP is becoming emotional regarding the child's health according to police records Russell appeared to be emaciated abnormally thin weak officers then find Russell's sister originally reported as 10-year-old Eve in a very similar malnourished condition the brother and sister were taken to a hospital and jod and Ruby were arrested now while the kids were found at Jody's home in Ivan's the Frankie family home was actually in Springville Utah around 250 Mi away after the kids are found in Ivans Springville police then barge into the Frankie house Police Department so Springville police they went to the home to make make sure that none of the Frankie children were there according to them the home was empty but authorities did end up tracking down Ruby's two middle daughters at the home of another connections employee this time in American Fork Utah and body cam footage shows law enforcement questioning that woman is Ruby Frankie's daughter okay she's a friend of ours she comes over and helps me every once in a while to do cleaning and stuff Sam knows her because she knows her mom she's very good friends with her has known her for a long long long time how did you start to know the family how me the Frankie family yeah through a a program called connections a kind of a life skills yeah type thing these middle children were also taken into State custody and handed over to the Utah Division of Child and Family Services by the way the eldest children if you're wondering about them Sherie and Chad they're both 18 now by the way speaking of Sherie when Ruby and jod were both arrested when it was publicly announced Sher posted a photo of the police on her Instagram story with the caption finally she then posted another message on Instagram writing quote today has been a big day me and my family are so glad Justice is being served we've been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this and so glad they finally decided to step up on September 1st the Washington County Attorney's Office charged each woman with six counts of aggravated child abuse now keep keep this in mind each charge is a second deegree felony under Utah law and carries a 1 to 15-year prison term and the charges range from physical injuries constituting torture starvation to conduct that results in severe emotional harm we are going to get into all that in a bit but both Frankie and hilderbrandt they were ordered to be held without bail so to recap Ruby and jod they're both in jail the minor age children are in state custody but you might be saying but wait a second what about Kevin Frankie right the father and husband where's he been this whole time well Kevin very much loved his children and loved his wife and had a strong bond and exceptionally strong bond with all of his kids you've seen pictures of their family together he was involved in all sorts of activities he was a great he was a great dad we've spoken with Kevin's attorney Randy Kester several times here on sidebar and he says that Kevin actually hadn't seen his entire family for more than a year and had no idea that any of this was going on according to ker Kevin had been living living separately from Ruby and based on my conversation with him he seemed to allude to the fact that the parenting of the children had something to do with the rift in their marriage among other things but here's the kicker ker told us that right before Ruby was arrested she called Kevin she had heard uh uh what was going on and U knew they were coming for her and uh called him and said this is an emergency even even though she hadn't she hadn't reached out to him for months and months and months before that uh she reached out to him when it was an emergency knowing she could rely on him to help his kids all he knows is he got a text from her that said emergency need to speak with you he was at work and uh text back and said I'm at work uh what's up and she said I need to speak to you immediately you know what was really interesting interesting is that ker said that jod hilderbrandt was the Catalyst for this according to ker Kevin agreed to have jod counsel the couple but she portrayed him as greedy and self-absorbed and that he needed to move out Kevin apparently did all this to get his family back ker says Kevin wanted to stay with the family but he and Ruby separated on the advice of Jody but Ruby felt like there were differences in their marriage and at one point in conjunction with jod hilderbrand it was sort of like uh we we have to separate to save our marriage you know we'll keep working on our marriage but for now you know if if you're going to sep if we're going to repair our marriage and be back together as a family you have to be away and you have to work on yourself and don't have contact with the kids don't have contact with me unless I initiate it and ker also revealed what his clients said would happen during jod hilderbrand's group therapy sessions during the separation Uh Kevin was attending men's groups that were facilitated by jod and uh during those uh during those groups he was being downgraded and diminished and um told how bad he was and that he needed to repent and that the best way to repent was to not infect his family with his uh with his problems and uh you know so that's why you need to stay away he wasn't the only one in those men's groups that was undergoing exactly what he was undergoing at her suggestion and recommendation to be clear by the way Kevin has not been criminally charged in this case he hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing and ker says that Kevin is actively working to get back custody of his children but what you just heard from Kevin's attorney is eerily similar to what others have said about jod hilderbrand you see other people who were counseled by hilderbrand have come forward with stories of manipulation coercion and even torture which brings us to hilderbrand's niece Jesse hilderbrandt now to let you know Jesse uses the pronouns they and them well after Jody's arrest Jesse shared their story with us on sidebar about living with their aunt for a period of time as a teenager Jody is in my experience one of the most intelligent human beings I've ever come in contact with she knows exactly what she's doing yeah apparently Jesse had been living with their parents in California but says during a family visit in Utah they just left them there yeah and they ended up living with Jodie jod is very smart in how she approaches her therapeutic modalities um because they are so extreme if she were just to start out with those things everyone would recognize it and they would be shocked and' be like absolutely not but she's very subtle she's very subtle and she's very um calculated and she's um it's like a frog being boiled in in water you know you start off with the cold water and slowly turn up the temperature much how it was so it started off with me at my grandparents and jod on the weekend and then it quite quickly became me living with her full-time and um and then I was I was pulled out of school so I wasn't allowed to go to school um so I would just be with her at her office she would put me into this little side room where I would just wait there and while she like up to 12 hours a day Jesse told us about some of the extreme punishments that they claim jod hilderbrandt viewed as therapeutic so she strips you of identity she strips you of credibility and she isolates and so she is saying everything that you say is a lie everything that you say is is manipulation you're manipulating everyone around you you're lying and destroying everyone's life so for the sake of everyone else's safety we're duct taping you so I was sleeping outside in the snow that was another thing I wasn't allowed to have a bed um I was sleeping in a what she told everyone that it was like a mummy bag you know Sub-Zero type of sleeping bag no it was absolutely not this was a like $20 Walmart store brand you use at sleepovers kind of sleeping bag outside in the snow in the middle of winter in Utah um and her justification when because I ended up going to the police um her justification to the police was that she was preparing for outdoor Wilderness therapy and this was like a kindness to me to give me one more opportunity to confess to sin Jesse says that after all this they were eventually able to escape from jod hilderbrand the door happened to not be locked and there was this moment this like very electrifying epiphany of a moment where I was like if I don't leave now I'm never getting out like I have to save myself now I need you to keep in mind what you just heard when I explained to you in a minute what we found out about what happened to Eve and Russell Frankie by the way while behind bars it's our understanding jod has agreed that her license be limited meaning she won't practice as a clinical mental health counselor until her legal case gets resolved now you fast forward to November 29th and we learned that Kevin Frankie officially filed for divorce from Ruby the divorce is a private document but a public injunction was also filed laying out all these rules to prevent things like harassment between Ruby and Kevin Randy ker again Kevin's attorney alluded to us that irreconcilable differences was the grounds for the divorce and that once Kevin learned what had happened to his children he decided to officially end the marriage now between September and December other than the divorce filing and learning that a speeding citation that Frankie had had had been dropped there was very little action in the case very little happened but behind the scenes and what we didn't know was that Ruby's legal team and prosecutors were working out a plea deal and then we find out that there were separate waiver hearings scheduled for both Ruby and jod that's when a criminal defendant in Utah can wave a preliminary hearing in the case preliminary hearing is where the prosecutors present evidence to a judge to determine if there's sufficient probable cause to move forward in the case why would a defendant wave a preliminary hearing if they decide to plead guilty and that is what happened on Monday December 18th Ruby Frankie appeared in the courtroom in a jail jumpsuit and she told the judge she was agreeing to plead guilty to four of the six child abuse counts Miss Frankie how do you plead to count one aggravated child abuse a second deegree felony guilty to count three aggravated child abuse a second degree felony guilty to count five aggravated child abuse a second degree felony guilty and to count six aggravated child abuse a second degree felony with my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children guilty as if the plea itself wasn't stunning enough the plea agreement documents filed with the court were shocking and that is because they laid out just what happened to Ruby's youngest children in the Ivan home and I will tell you it was absolutely sickening I'm going to go through these Admissions and I want to read all of it to you because that's how bad it is it is important that you understand what happened now I should note that this abuse occurred over a 3month period over the summer from May to August think about the heat of those months you'll see why and by the way another important note it says that Ruby inflicted the injury or allowed another to inflict the injury meaning jod hilderbrand so first Ruby pled guilty to count one aggravated child abuse of RF Russell her 11 to 12-year-old son the reason I say that is because it sounds like this abuse happened before and through his birthday we haven't gotten confirmation about that but it does say 11 to 12 now count one is about physical injury that includes physical torture and it reads quote the defendant's actions involved the physical torture of RF initially RF was forced to do physical tasks for hours and days at a time these included wall sits carrying boxes full of books up and down stairs and working outside eventually RF was forced to do outside labor without shoes and in the summer heat he was forced to stand in the direct sunlight for several days he was forced to remain outside at all hours of the day and night by extended periods of time these actions resulted in repeated and serious sunburns with blistered and sloughing skin RF was denied adequate water for several of the days he was required to remain in the summer heat and he was punished when he secretly consumed water he was denied sufficient food and when given food he was given very plain meals example rice and chicken While others in the house ate regular and more flavorful meals he was isolated from other people and denied all forms of entertainment including books notebooks and electronics in addition after RF attempted to run away in July his hands and feet were regularly bound binding included being tied to the defendant and to weights many times The Binding included using two sets of handcuffs one on rf's wrists and one on his ankles at times with RF lying on his stomach ropes were used to tie the two sets of handcuffs together so that his arms and lower legs would lifted off the ground the bindings resulted in injuries to rf's wrists and ankles where the handcuffs cut through the skin and damaged the muscle tissue these injuries were treated with homeopathic remedies and covered with duct tape then the bindings were placed on top of the duct tape specific instances of abuse committed by the defendant include one kicking RF while wearing boots two holding his head underwater and and three cutting off Oxygen by placing her hands over his mouth and nose we never knew these details before and for me this was worse than anything I could have thought then she pled guilty to count three in the original charging document count three is about agravated child abuse again on Russell but it is about physical injury causing emotional harm the actions described above cause severe emotional harm to RF due to the fact that they began in May and escalated throughout the summer months Additionally the defendant and another adult regularly sought to indoctrinate RF and convince him that he was evil and possessed and that he needed to willingly be obedient to avoid punishments and that the punishments were necessary to repent he was also told that everything that was being done to him were acts of Love That manipulation does that sound familiar from what we heard from Jesse hilderbrand and from Kevin's attorney moving on Ruby pled guilty to count five in the original charging document this is about the abuse of EF Eve Ruby's then 9-year-old daughter and this is about injury resulting in emotional harm the defendant's actions also cause severe emotional harm to EF other than binding in the specific instances of abuse RF was subjected to EF was subjected to the same treatment as her brother she was isolated and forced to do the physical tasks remain outside and denied food and water she was also repeatedly told she was evil and possessed the punishments were necessary for her to be obedient and to repent and these things were being done to her in order to help her EF was convinced that she was evil and needed to go through these things in order to repent 9 years old unbelievable and we see this so many times in these kinds of cases where the victims are led to believe that it is their fault and that this is done to help them now the last count that Ruby Frankie pled guilty to was number six in the original information this was abuse that constituted physical injury that includes multiple injuries at charge specific to Eve the defendant's actions caused two or more physical injuries to EF she was forced to work outside in the heat Barefoot she was also forced to run Barefoot on dirt roads for an extended period of time ef's feet were repeatedly injured by and she was repeatedly sunburned when examined on August 30th these wounds were apparent by scabs blisters and sloughing skin so that is what ruby Frankie pled guilty to and admitted in a press conference right after the hearing prosecutor Eric Clark talked about what's next for Ruby Frankie she will remain incarcerated awaiting sentencing which will occur and I the the date was February 20th 20th I I believe we are pleased that Mrs Frankie has accepted responsibility for criminal actions and that Justice is being served to the extent possible in this type of a situation we're grateful for the law enforcement officers case workers Children's Justice Center staff and other others that have been instrumental in the fair and Speedy resolution of this case because the alleged facts of the ongoing case involving Jody hillerbrand are intertwined with this case our office will not be making additional statements to the media at this time now something to add here before this hearing happened Ruby's Law Firm released a statement announcing that she was going to plead guilty and in this statement Listen to Who Ruby throws under the bus it states quote Ruby Frankie is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant Improvement initially Miss Frankie believed that jod hilderbrand had the insight to offer a path to continual Improvement Miss hilderbrandt took advantage of this Quest and twisted it into something heinous over an extended period Miss hilderbrandt systematically isolated Ruby Frankie from her extended family older children and her husband Kevin Frankie this prolonged isolation resulted in Miss Frankie being subjected to a distorted sense of morality shaped by Miss hilderbrand's influence now I have to believe that one of the reasons prosecutors allowed this plea deal to happen and why Ruby even agreed to it and I should tell you two charges were dropped yeah there were two charges that were dropped for this deal these were about injuries resulting in Starvation or malnutrition could have been because they were duplicative of the other charges or it was some benefit that Ruby got to agreeing to the deal but either way I believe one of the reasons we saw this happening was not to only save the time and expense and heartache of a trial and maybe Ruby will get some sort of leniency by pleading guilty but also to spare her two young children from having to testify against their mom and if you believe that Frankie realizes the error of her ways then maybe that makes sense and I should tell you this doesn't mean that Ruby is not going to get prison time or even minimal prison time you see she is scheduled to be sentenced in February each of these child abuse counts carries a prison term of 1 to 15 years and the agreement states the sentences will run consecutively meaning one after the other Plus in Utah it's our understanding that they use an indeterminate sentencing scheme which means that a judge doesn't determine how long she goes away for but rather the Board of Pardons and Parole will ultimately determine when she can be released in other words Ruby could be going away for a very long time and it is not surprising based on what we just heard that she did it's also not surprising that in the divorce documents with Kevin it seems at least to me she's not really fighting him on custody and is supporting his efforts to get the kids makes sense if she's going to be behind bars now where does that leave jod hildbrand in all this she's got a hearing scheduled on December 27th two days after Christmas so far there's been no word about whether she'll take a plea and her defenses at this point are really not great but what do we know as part of Ruby Frankie's plea deal she agrees to testify against jod hilderbrandt we are going to bring you all of the new developments as they happened in this case but in the meantime thanks for watching us here on sidebar I'm Jesse Weber I'll speak to you next [Music] time

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 1,231,423

Keywords: law and crime, law and crime network

Id: 7ocR68ifTJg

Length: 35min 14sec (2114 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 23 2023