Inside the horrific lives of Ruby Franke's children as harrowing true story revisited

Family counsellor Jodie Hildebrandt, who could have been a refuge for vlogger Ruby Franke's children, instead played a role in their distressing abuse.

Franke and therapist Jodie Hildebrandt formed an immediate bond when they met through their Mormon church community, quickly becoming close friends. At 56, Hildebrandt was the founder of a life coaching business and a respected figure within the Mormon church.

Meanwhile, Franke, 43, made her living by sharing family vlogs featuring her six young children and then-husband Kevin Franke on the YouTube channel 8 Passengers.

Franke started vlogging in 2015, with her friendship with Hildebrandt blossoming in 2019. Hildebrandt became a constant fixture in Franke and her children's lives, setting the stage for devastating levels of abuse against two of Franke's youngest children.

The Netflix documentary Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story now exposes Hildebrandt's true role in the abuse. Franke's children were saved after her 12 year old son knocked on a neighbour's door asking for food and water.

The neighbour noticed injuries on the boy's wrists and ankles, as well as his malnourished condition, and alerted authorities on 30 August 2023.

Police found the boy's nine year old sister - also severely underweight - inside Hildebrandt's Utah mansion. With Franke and Hildebrandt swiftly arrested, the full extent of their horrifying crimes came to light.

Franke had grounded her family with Kevin in their faith, maintaining regular weekly church attendance. However, she started attracting criticism on her YouTube channel for the disciplinary tactics she shared, which included making her children perform physical exercises and stand in formation.

In 2020, child protective services were summoned to the family residence following a petition launched by concerned viewers after it was revealed her then 15 year old son had been sleeping on a bean bag. As punishment for pranking his brothers and sisters, his bedroom had been removed for seven months.

In one upload, Franke disclosed that she had informed her two youngest that Father Christmas wouldn't be delivering presents because they weren't responding to sanctions including being kept at home from school and made to scrub the floorboards. "It's because they're so numb, and the more numb your child is the bigger the outcome they need to wake them up," Franke said.

She was also filmed declining to take her then six year old daughter's lunch box to school after the child had forgotten it, instead remarking to the camera, "Hopefully nobody gives her food and nobody steps in and gives her a lunch, because then she's not going to learn."

Whilst these incidents raised alarm bells, the full severity of the maltreatment remained hidden from public view. In 2022, the Frankes separated, their YouTube channel was discontinued and Kevin moved out.

Hildebrandt seemingly persuaded Franke to relocate to her secluded home hundreds of miles away from the family's abode. She took on the role of Franke's personal coach, with court documents revealing the chilling events that transpired within her £4million mansion.

After encountering Hildebrandt, she developed an obsession with the devil, demons, and even branded one of her children as "Satanic" in a diary entry. She described how the child "slithers and sneaks around looking for opportunities when no one is watching."

From May to August 2023, Franke subjected her two youngest children to torture, compelling one of her sons to carry out physical tasks for weeks on end outdoors without shoes and under the scorching sun. He endured repeated burns, resulting in "with blistered and sloughing skin."

She also deprived the boy of sufficient food and punished him upon discovering he had drunk water without her permission. The then-12 year old boy sustained severe injuries to his wrists and ankles, with muscle and tissue torn by the ropes and handcuffs that Hildebrandt used to restrain him.

The excruciating wounds were then treated with cayenne pepper and honey, the boy informed police officers, and covered with duct tape. One of Franke's daughters was similarly forced to labour outside barefoot and without food and water. According to case report documents, she was repeatedly told she was "evil and possessed."

The two middle children were minors at the time and were discovered at a family friend's house on the day of the arrest. Neighbours reported that Franke had been leaving her teenage daughters unsupervised for weeks on end in their Springville home while she was hundreds of miles away at Hildebrandt's residence in Ivins.

Her eldest children, Shari and Chad, who were 20 and 18 respectively at the time, no longer resided at home. Shari had distanced herself from her mother and was attending university.

Chad was living independently and has since voiced his disapproval of his mother and championed child protection.

After Franke's arrest, all four minors were placed under the care of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), and their father, Kevin Franke (who had been ousted from the family home by Ruby and Hildebrandt over a year prior), was eventually awarded full custody following the finalisation of his divorce.

Both Franke and Hildebrandt received sentences of four consecutive terms of one to 15 years in February 2024, with both being incarcerated in the same prison but in separate sections.

Franke told the court: "For the past four years, I've chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion. My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me."

Speaking to her children, she added that she, "believed dark was light and right was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe and good."

Shari, now 22, released a memoir in January 2025 detailing her life with Ruby, entitled The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom. Chad, now 20, works as an estate agent and tied the knot in 2025, according to his Instagram.

The identities of the four children have never been disclosed.

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt story is on Netflix

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