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Ruby Franke Arrested and Sentenced in Child Abuse Case

The Horrific Case Behind the YouTube Channel ‘8 Passengers’
Byline photo of Serena Braglia
Serena Braglia, Staff reporter
March 20, 2025
Ruby Franke Arrested and Sentenced in Child Abuse Case

Ruby Franke

Ruby Franke, a Mormon mother of 6, launched the family YouTube channel “8 Passengers” in 2015, sharing the daily lives of her children and husband, Kevin. The channel quickly became popular, and by 2020, the Frankes were posting up to five times a week and had 2.5 million followers. Sometimes, it brought in over $100,000 per month, allowing the family to move into a larger home, Kevin said in the documentary. Franke filmed almost all the time, which was discomforting for the family. “She filmed everything, and I was so uncomfortable with it,” Kevin Franke said in one episode of the documentary. “When I came in the door, wherever Ruby was, the camera was. All of a sudden, it wasn’t enough to just interact with her, I had to interact with the camera.”

However, many concerns about Ruby’s parenting methods soon appeared. In one video posted on their channel, the oldest son, Chad, revealed he had gotten his room taken away and had to sleep on a beanbag in the basement of their home for seven months as a punishment. In another video, it shows her threatening to cut off the head of her daughter’s stuffed animal. In other footage, Ruby even threatens the children that she will take away meal privileges for that day. This raised concerns, and in 2020, protective services visited the Franke home after receiving a complaint about Ruby’s treatment of her children. After the visit, no charges were filed. In 2021, the YouTube channel declined in popularity.

Jodi Hildenbrandt

This is Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke when they were working together in ConneXions.

Jodi Hildebrandt is a former Utah-licensed counselor. She founded ConneXions in 2007, which advertised itself as offering mental health and addiction services. In 2021, Kevin and Ruby began working with Hildebrandt. By August 2021, Hildebrandt moved in with the Frankes. In 2022, Ruby began working as a mental health coach at ConneXions. That same year, Ruby returned from a trip with Hildebrandt one day and informed Kevin that his “attitude” was “infesting the family,” Kevin’s lawyer told PEOPLE. Ruby allegedly said that the only way to save their marriage was to separate, so Kevin moved out.

In 2022, while home from college, Shari was disowned by Ruby after finding out that she had tried to contact Kevin. After this, Ruby and Hildebrandt both began co-hosting a podcast and an Instagram, offering parenting classes. After meeting with Hildebrandt multiple times, Ruby got close with her and would often go to her home in Utah. It went as far as Franke leaving her young children home alone for several days at a time to visit her in a town about three hours away. Shari, the eldest daughter of the Franke family, was told about her siblings and reported it to the police. Police didn’t have a warrant, so they couldn’t enter the home.

After this, Ruby decided to take the 4 younger siblings to stay at Jodi’s home. The abuse escalated as they stayed at Jodi’s. Franke and Hildebrandt held Franke’s 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter in a work-camp-like setting. The children were regularly denied food, water, and beds to sleep in. They were also prohibited from interacting with others and were hidden in the home when others came to visit. They were forced to do physical tasks like carrying loaded boxes up and down stairs and “sitting” against a wall without a chair or stool for hours at a time. The children were also forced to do manual labor outdoors in the extreme summer heat without shoes or socks.

The investigation found that religious extremism motivated Franke and Hildebrandt to inflict this horrific abuse. The women appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined “sins” and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies.

How The Children Were Found

On August 30, 2023, Utah police were called after Ruby’s 12-year-old son, Russell, was found with open wounds and duct tape around his wrists and ankles, after he escaped Jodi’s house and asked a neighbor for help. The neighbors called the police, and they searched the home. Ruby’s 10-year-old daughter, Eve, was soon found in “similar physical condition” at Jodi’s home, and both children were transported to a local hospital. Jodi and Ruby were then arrested. Authorities determined that the boy and girl had been staying with Jodi, though it’s unclear for how long, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. They along, with two of Ruby’s other minor children, Julie and Abby, were placed into state custody at that time. Court documents later revealed that Russell and Eve had suffered severe abuse, requiring urgent medical intervention and psychological treatment.

This is when police came to Jodi Hildebrandt’s home.

Arrest & Trial

In 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt both pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in Washington County 5th District Court in Utah in December. Franke was sentenced to four consecutive sentences of 1 to 15 years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000. Hildebrandt was also sentenced to the same four consecutive terms of 1 to 15 years. A judge denied them bail due to “the severity of the kids’ injuries,” according to court records. Ruby and Jodi are accused of “causing or permitting serious injury” to Ruby’s two children who were hospitalized in three different ways: a combination of physical injuries from torture, starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life, and causing severe emotional harm, according to the Washington County attorney’s office. In their plea agreement, Franke and Hildebrandt admitted to inflicting or allowing another adult to inflict serious physical injuries upon Franke’s children between May and August 2023.

This is Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt’s mugshot.

In Franke’s statements in court, she took responsibility for her actions and gave a tearful apology to her children. Franke told the judge that she would not argue for a shorter sentence, and she stood to thank local police officers, doctors, and social workers for being the “angels” who saved her children from her at a time when she says she was under the influence of her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt. She said in a statement, “I was led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, and husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need abuse.” Franke’s attorneys said, “Ruby Franke wants to take responsibility for the harm she has caused to her children and to her entire family. She knows that by pleading guilty and accepting the punishment, she is taking a step in the right direction to be accountable for her actions,” they said to ABC News. They are both now serving their time in Utah State Correctional Facility.

Where are the Children Now?

The new docuseries Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke came out on Feb 27, 2025. It examines Ruby and the beliefs that drove her to hurt her children. The three-part series is the first time Kevin and the two oldest Franke children, Shari and Chad, have spoken at length about Ruby on camera. But where are they now?

This is the book that Shari wrote about her mother, Ruby.

Shari, the eldest daughter, has written a book about her experience. The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom was released on Jan. 7, 2025. In an excerpt from the book that was published by PEOPLE, Shari wrote about what happened after Franke found out she’d called child protective services to protect her siblings. Chad, the second oldest Franke child, is active on his social media accounts, where he posts about his girlfriend, hobbies, and travels. The four younger siblings (who are now between the ages of 11 and 17) have largely remained out of the spotlight since their family’s vlogging days. After Franke’s arrest, the four minors, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve, were taken into custody by the Division of Child and Family Services, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. According to a January 2024 filing made by Randy Kester, Kevin Franke’s attorney, Russell and Eve have “undergone medical care and have been subjected to psychological assessments and ongoing mental health treatment” as they recover from the abuse. Additionally, Kevin filed for custody of his four youngest children shortly after their mother’s arrest. However, as of February 2024, the custody case is ongoing. In February 2025, Kevin told PEOPLE that his life is now getting back to “a comfortable normal.” “There’s still a lot of healing that I work on each day, but it just looks and feels different now,” he said.

Conclusion

Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt abused Franke’s children and held them captive at Hildebrandt’s home. They are both serving their time in jail. Thankfully, Shari and her younger siblings are finally free and out of harms way. This was a horrific case and should be shared to spread awareness of family vlogging.

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