Ruby Franke is many things: she is a mother, she is a Mormon and she is a monster.
Ruby, a famous Youtuber, rose to fame through her parental advice videos and the life of a “perfect” family. A documentary called “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke” exposes what was really going on behind the camera.
She showed every detail of her family on her YouTube channel called “8 Passengers,” and people loved how open she was.
Until it took a turn.
As her family grew up, her channel didn’t. People started to notice the horrors.
Ruby showed more explicit and harsh punishments. She took her son’s room away for months because of a simple prank, and she did not drop off lunch for her preschooler because it was supposed to be her responsibility.
She sent her son to see a therapist named Jodi Hildebrandt, who ended up enabling the abuse. Ruby, her husband Kevin and Jodi all formed a relationship, but then Jodi started having separate therapy sessions between Ruby and Kevin. She started separating them by making up lies about the husband. This caused many divorces, not just between Ruby and her husband Kevin, but many other couples through these sessions.
Many viewers had suspicions about Ruby’s parenting style, but it wasn’t until August 30, 2023 when she was caught.
Her son, who is unnamed, went to a neighbor’s house asking for food. The child was severely malnourished with bruises and scrapes along his body. The police were called.
The police went to Jodi Hildebrandt’s house which is where the family was staying and found Ruby’s daughter locked in a closet.
The officers tried to convince the child to get out, but she believed it was a setup and didn’t want to get punished. It took her four hours to get out of the closet.
Both children were starved, had deep wounds/cuts covered in plastic wrap and duct tape, bruises, and tied up with ropes.
All of the injuries the children faced was a “punishment” for any of their wrong doings. One specific punishment would be putting cayenne pepper and honey in their wounds.
Ruby Franke currently is behind bars for four 15 year terms and plead guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse.
Jodi Hildebrandt was sentenced to one 15 year term.
Currently only the two of her children, Chad and Shari Franke, have shared the truth behind closed doors through social media and in the documentary called, “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke”
Ruby’s oldest daughter Shari Franke has spoken out about the terrors of her public teenage years through her book called, “The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom.”
Ruby Franke was not a mother; she was a monster.
