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Who is Ruby Franke, the parenting YouTuber being jailed for child abuse? The Utah mother-of-six was sentenced to prison for holding her kids in ‘concentration-camp-like’ settings

Influencer Ruby Franke will serve years in prison after being found guilty of abusing her children. Photo: @moms_of_truth/Instagram
Influencer Ruby Franke will serve years in prison after being found guilty of abusing her children. Photo: @moms_of_truth/Instagram

  • A Utah mother-of-six who gave out parenting advice on a popular YouTube channel has been sentenced to prison for abusing her children – her videos had previously sparked backlash
  • The disgraced mum, Ruby Franke, 42, pleaded guilty late last year to four counts of aggravated child abuse and was sentenced this week to between 1 and 15 years in prison on each charge

A Utah mother-of-six who doled out parenting advice on a popular YouTube channel has been sentenced to prison for abusing her children, holding two of them in conditions prosecutors likened to concentration camps.

Ruby Franke, 42, pleaded guilty in December to four counts of aggravated child abuse and was sentenced on Tuesday to one-to-15 years in prison on each charge.

Franke’s business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, whom she described as her “mentor,” received the same sentence.

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Things are hardly ever as they seem on the surface, especially when it comes to social media. While some netizens were shocked at the news of Franke’s abuse coming to light, others weren’t surprised to hear about the disgraced mother’s arrest. According to the BBC, her videos had previously sparked backlash due to her too strict parenting style.

Here’s what we know about Ruby Franke:

Who is Ruby Franke?

Ruby Franke lived well while her children were denied food and abused. Photo: @moms_of_truth/Instagram
Ruby Franke lived well while her children were denied food and abused. Photo: @moms_of_truth/Instagram
Beginning in 2015, Franke ran a since-deleted YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” which provided parenting advice. She would later feature on a YouTube channel run by Hildebrandt after separating from her husband.

What did Ruby Franke do to her children?

Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt on a couples retreat together in 2021. Photo: @moms_of_truth/Instagram
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt on a couples retreat together in 2021. Photo: @moms_of_truth/Instagram

Utah prosecutor Eric Clarke said Franke and Hildebrandt held two of the children, then aged nine and 11, in a “concentration camp-like setting”.

“The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment,” Clarke said. “They were isolated from others, and were hidden when people came to visit the house.