Ruby Franke & Jodi Hildebrandt have been sentenced to up to 30 years each for their participation in a gruesome child abuse case. Franke is a former mommy vlogger of a top-rated YouTube channel. For years, she frequently displayed her six children and now-estranged husband and developed a massive following. Jodi Hildebrandt is a therapist and life coach with whom Franke and her children lived in Southern Utah. Family life with Franke and her children appeared to be good from the outside. However, the reality of Franke’s life was anything but glamorous. She was a monster, and her children lived in a house of horrors.
Franke & Hildebrandt were sentenced to four consecutive sentences of 1 to 15 years each. On paper, this is a maximum of 60 years. Some news outlets report the higher number, while others say 30 years. In any event, these two women will not see the light of day any time soon for what they did to Franke’s children.
This all started when one of Franke’s children escaped Hildebrandt’s home to seek help from a neighbor. The neighbor reported that the child was emaciated, malnourished, and had restraint marks on his hands and wrists as if he had been bound. Police arrived on the scene to discover that the children were subject to horrible living conditions.
After the children were found and rescued, the depth of Franke’s evil was revealed. She used hunger as a weapon to discipline her children. There are even clips of Franke proudly saying that her kids would not eat when they did something that she didn’t like. She punished her children by making them stand outside in the hot Southern Utah desert climate for hours during the summer. Sunburns and rough skin were regular for her children under age 10. The things Franke & Hildebrandt did to these children were so bad that they could be considered war crimes overseas.
SOURCES:
YouTube mom Ruby Franke sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for child abuse – YouTube
Video shows moment American Fork police locate Ruby Franke’s children on day of her arrest – YouTube
Ruby Franke, YouTube mom vlogger, sentenced to prison for child abuse | Utah | The Guardian
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt sentenced to up to 30 years in prison in child abuse case – CBS News
Ruby Franke Apologizes to Her Children for Abusing Them
Ruby Franke, popular parent blogger, sentenced to consecutive prison terms for 4 counts of aggravated child abuse | CNN
Ruby Franke, a Former YouTube Host, Sentenced for Child Abuse – The New York Times
