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Ruby Franke rose to fame on YouTube as an American family vlogger under the name 8 Passengers. She was born in 1982. Nevertheless, things in her life took a bad turn, and on August 30, 2023, she was arrested in Washington County, Utah. Franke has entered a guilty plea to four of the six charges of severe child abuse, and her sentence is set for February 20, 2024.
Career
Ruby Franke and her husband, Kevin, launched the 8 Passengers YouTube channel at the beginning of 2015 to provide fans a peek into their six-child family’s life in Utah. The channel had about 2.5 million members and one billion views by June 2020. But in 2020, people began to express worries about Franke’s harsh punishments, which included unsettling acts like depriving her children of food and threatening them.
A Change.org petition claiming child abuse and neglect was started as the investigation grew more intense. Ruby and Kevin Franke justified their disciplinary measures by claiming that the events were misinterpreted. The 8 Passengers channel had a drop in popularity in 2021 despite its best efforts. After the couple’s 2022 split and Kevin Franke moved out, Ruby decided to deactivate the YouTube channel.
After the divorce, Ruby Franke started working as a mental health coach at ConneXions, a counseling business owned by Jodi Nan Hildebrandt. Together, they started a new YouTube channel in 2022 and worked on an Instagram account called Moms of Truth that provided parenting advice. Authorities checked on the children’s well-being after receiving complaints about Ruby leaving the kids unattended at home from neighbors and the Frankes’ oldest daughter.
Ruby Franke and Jodi Nan Hildebrandt were taken into custody in Ivins, Utah, on August 30, 2023, and were accused of six charges of serious child abuse. After a tragic occurrence where Franke’s starving 12-year-old son went to a neighbor’s house to ask for aid, Franke was arrested. Following an inquiry that turned up evidence of serious malnourishment and bruises, Franke had to remove a number of the children from her care.
Jodi Nan Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke are being imprisoned without being able to post bail. A status review hearing was rescheduled after the first virtual hearings took place in September 2023. Hildebrandt gave up her counseling license while the matter was being looked into. Following Franke’s arrest, YouTube removed channels associated with her and banned her from the site.
Ruby Franke entered not-guilty pleas on two charges of severe child abuse and guilty pleas on four counts on December 18, 2023. The comprehensive factual foundation comprised accounts of her son suffering from terrible sunburns and assertions that the kids were possessed. Franke’s sentence is set for February 20, 2024, and it is anticipated that she will testify against Hildebrandt in her next trial.
Who are Ruby Franke’s Sisters?
Ruby Franke has three sisters, Julie Griffiths Deru, Ellie Mecham, and Bonnie Hoellein.
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