Ruby Franke used to run the successful “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, where she posted videos about life with six children.
Now she’s in prison for child abuse.
The former mom influencer, 43, was sentenced in February 2024 to between four and 30 years in prison after she was charged with abusing two of her six children.
Franke’s associate, mental health counselor Jodi Hildebrandt, 55, was also sentenced to between four and 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of child abuse.
A new Netflix documentary, “Evil Influencer,” takes a fresh look at Franke and Hildebrandt’s story. The three-part docuseries includes interviews with Franke’s eldest children, Shari and Chad, and her husband, Kevin, who filed for divorce in 2023.
At first glance, “8 Passengers,” which launched in 2015, appeared to be a wholesome, family-focused vlog documenting the busy life of Franke, her husband Kevin, and their six kids.
As the years went on, however, some followers voiced concerns about the parenting techniques on display in Franke’s “8 Passengers” videos, such as when she revealed she punished her kids by withholding food, forced them to do push-ups, or made them miss school to clean the house.
Hildebrandt ran a life-coaching business called ConneXions, which focused on “empowering people by educating them with the principles of Truth” and helping them “dispose of distortion’s ugly lies,” according to an archive of the ConneXions website.
Hildebrandt focused on counseling Mormon couples and families, NBC News reported.
In January 2012, Hildebrandt’s license to practice as a counselor in Utah was placed on probation for 18 months for a series of violations.
According to Utah Division of Professional Licensing documents reviewed by TODAY.com, Jodi repeatedly disclosed “sensitive private information” about her clients to their church clergy and other mental health therapists, without their consent.
Her license was reinstated in 2013.
The two women were charged with of “causing or permitting serious physical injury to the victims in three different ways: (1) a combination of multiple physical injuries or torture, (2) starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life, and (3) causing severe emotional harm,” the Office of the Washington County Attorney said in a news release on Sept. 1, 2023. Both pled guilty in court.
Keep reading to learn more about where Franke and Hildebrandt are now, and when the length of their prison sentences will be decided.
Franke is incarcerated at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. The facility, which began operating in 2022, is spread across 200 acres and includes 3,600 beds, according to the prison’s website.
Franke and Hildebrandt are housed in different sections of the prison’s Dell housing unit, which is the facility’s only unit for women and currently houses 367 female inmates, Karen Tapahe, public information officer for the Utah Department of Corrections, told TODAY.com in an email.
Although Franke and Hildebrandt are housed separately, “it is possible they could see each other at various times,” such as during gym time, classes, or other types of programming, Tapahe said.
On Feb. 20, 2024, Franke was sentenced to four one- to 15-year consecutive prison terms after pleading guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony.
When asked how she pleaded to the fourth charge, the former “momfluencer” appeared to grow emotional and said, “With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty,” as seen in a video of her sentencing shared by the Associated Press.
The maximum combined sentence for consecutive prison terms is 30 years in Utah, according to NBC News. This means that Franke could spend anywhere between four and 30 years in prison.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will determine the length of Franke’s sentence in a hearing currently scheduled for sometime in December 2026.
Prior to this hearing, Franke is expected to undergo a mental health review and is expected to participate in cognitive behavioral therapy, according to a July 2024 scheduling document from the board.
Franke was arrested on Aug. 30, 2023, after the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department received a dispatch call regarding a “juvenile asking for help.”
The child “appeared to be emaciated and malnourished” and had “open wounds and duct tape around the extremities,” according to a press release from the public safety department.
Officers searched a nearby home and found another child “in a similar condition of malnourishment,” according to the release.
Ultimately, four children were taken into the care of the Department of Child and Family Services, and Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested, according to the release.
In both Franke and Hildebrandt’s sentencing hearings, county prosecutor Eric Clarke said in his opening statements that Franke’s children had endured a “concentration-camp like setting.”
“The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in and virtually all forms of entertainment,” he said.
He said outside the courtroom that the case involving Franke and Hildebrandt was the most extreme he had seen in his career.
“This is one of the worst child abuse cases we’ve ever seen,” he said.
