Popular YouTuber Ruby Franke received her prison sentence on February 21, 2024; known to many for her channel “8 Passengers,” Franke would create vlogs with the content centered around her six children. Now it’s possible she might not see her family again after she was sentenced to a maximum of 60 years in prison. You may think that anyone that receives such a harsh sentence must be a terrible person — and you’d be right — so read on to find out exactly what Ruby Franke did to earn that sentence.
What did Ruby Franke do?
The “8 Passengers” YouTube channel had amassed a serious following, around 2.3 million subscribers, so you know it was a big deal. Despite this, Franke’s videos and channel have been wiped from the internet since everything came to light. Even before that though fans were already noticing that there was a bad vibe to her content. People who watched her vlogs commented on the unorthodox and often cruel punishments that she would openly admit to inflicting on her children. Examples include things such as removing “the privilege to eat dinner” (Ruby’s literal words to one of her children in a video) and even taking away one of her kid’s beds.
Needless to say, if this was the stuff they were openly showing to millions of people on the internet, what was going on when the camera was turned off? Viewers started to worry, petitions were signed, and the family was investigated but no legal action was taken at the time. Things got worse in 2022 when Franke and her husband split, this is when life coach and business partner to Ruby, Jodi Hildebrandt comes into the equation. In August 2023 those suspicions of abuse came to be confirmed when Franke’s 12 year old son escaped Hildebrandt’s house and the police were called, revealing Ruby Franke’s true nature.
As many suspected, Franke’s punishments were much harsher than the stuff that was witnessed on camera. The 12 year old who escaped reportedly had open wounds and tape around his wrists and legs. According to BBC News, the punishments included tying the children up and kicking and beating them, denying them food, and forcing them to work outside in the blistering heat; in some instances the children were forced to stay outside for hours at a time.
Both Franke and Hildebrandt were charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse. The sentence for such a crime is between one to 15 years, and the women were charged with four counts to be served consecutively. This means their total time behind bars could be between four to 60 years; it’s ultimately for the Utah parole board to decide how long the pair will be in prison for. However, Ruby’s husband, Kevin Franke, has requested that his wife be given the maximum sentence, and he’s probably not the only one.