YouTuber mother who gave advice on raising children was convicted of child abuse

An American YouTuber who exposed her family life and promoted strict behavioral practices was sentenced to four consecutive prison terms ranging from 1 to 15 years for the aggravated child abuse of her children. It turned out that the woman kept two of them in conditions that prosecutors compared to concentration camps.

Ruby Franke, a 42-year-old mother of six, pleaded guilty in December to four counts of aggravated child abuse.
Franke’s partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, whom he described as his “mentor,” received the same sentence.

Since 2015, the YouTuber has run a social network channel called 8 Passengers, which has since been deleted. In that space he portrayed the daily life of his family and promoted strict educational standards.

She would later appear on a YouTube channel run by Hildebrandt, after separating from her husband.

Utah prosecutor Eric Clarke said Franke and Hildebrandt kept two of the children, then ages 9 and 11, in a “concentration camp-like environment.”

“Children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in and virtually any form of entertainment. They were isolated from others and hidden when people came to visit the house. They were also forced to do manual labor outdoors in the extreme summer heat, sometimes without shoes or socks.“he added.

Clarke also noted that the children were emotionally abused, “to the point where each believed, to some extent, that they deserved what was being done to them.”

The prosecutor maintained that the eldest son “had the courage” to run away and ask a neighbor to call the police: “God only knows how much longer they could have survived in that situation.”

The YouTuber mother apologized for her actions at the sentencing hearing before Judge John Walton.

“I was made to believe that this world was an evil place full of police who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and covet, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need abuse.”he declared.

Franke claimed that his paranoia “culminated in criminal activity” and that he was “willing to be held accountable.”