Ruby Franke pleads guilty to child abuse four months after her malnourished children were found in Utah home
- Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were charged with child abuse in August
- Franke, 41, made a living as a YouTuber on her platform 8 Passengers
- One of her children raised the alarm by begging neighbors for food and water
Disgraced YouTuber Ruby Franke today pleaded guilty to child abuse as part of a plea deal, four months after her malnourished children were found at her business partner’s home in Utah.
Franke, wearing gray and white prison clothes, pleaded guilty to each of the first three charges separately, saying on the fourth: “With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty.”
Franke and partner Jodi Hildebrand were arrested earlier this year after one of Franke’s six children escaped from the home in Ivins, Utah, and ran to a neighbor’s house, where he knocked on the door and asked for food and water.
Franke, wearing gray and white prison clothes, pleaded guilty to each of the first three charges separately, saying on the fourth: ‘With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty’
Franke smiled at her attorney and corrections staff as she entered court Monday
Franke originally faced six second-degree felony counts of child molestation. Combined, these charges carried a maximum penalty of 90 years in prison.
Today’s plea deal reduces the maximum sentence to 60 years. A judge will decide her fate in February.
The pair ran Franke’s YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, where she gave parenting advice.
Franke insists she was manipulated by Hildebrand, who was also charged earlier this year.
Her lawyers say Hildebrand’s influence has created a “distorted sense of reality.”
“Ruby Franke is a devoted mother as well as a woman committed to continuous improvement,” Winward Law said in a statement.
Franke initially believed Hildebrandt “had the insight to provide a path to continuous improvement,” but said Hildebrandt “took advantage of this quest and turned it into something heinous,” Franke’s lawyers allege.
Hildebrandt “systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children and her husband, Kevin Franke,” the statement said.
By the time she was arrested, Franke’s polished personal life had crumbled. Her husband had left her, citing differences in their parenting styles as the reason their marriage could no longer work.
She had launched a personal coaching channel together with Hildebrand.
Franke, 41, could have faced up to 90 years in prison on six second-degree felonies. Now she is approaching 60