Ruby Franke: Parenting Advice YouTuber acknowledges molesting kids

Ruby Franke, a Utah woman who ran a well-liked YouTube channel offering parenting advice, has admitted to four counts of serious child abuse.

Ruby Franke, 41, was accused of starving and mistreating her kids after her son escaped from a house in Utah. After some time, she and the prosecution reached a plea agreement.

She entered her guilty plea, according to Franke, “with my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children.”.

She is going to testify against a former business partner and accomplice.

The former YouTube sensation, whose parenting site once had over two million followers, filed her guilty plea on Monday while sporting a jail jumpsuit with white and grey stripes.

Franke will be sentenced on February 20, 2024.

When her undernourished toddler escaped out of the house in Ivins, Utah, in August, she was taken to jail at the residence of her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt. She requested food and drink from a neighbour.

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In addition, Ms. Hildebrandt, 54, was arrested and accused of abusing children. On her website, ConneXions Classroom, life coach and therapist Ms. Hildebrandt shared YouTube videos with Franke.

Franke’s attorney blasted Ms. Hildebrandt for allegedly driving Franke “astray” in a statement given to US media.

“Over an extended period, Ms. Hildebrandt systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Franke,” Winward Law said in a tweet. “This prolonged isolation resulted in Ms. Franke being subjected to a distorted sense of morality.”

Neither the prosecution nor Ms. Hildebrandt’s counsel, Winward Law, responded to requests for comment.

Franke’s 12-year-old son told authorities that Ms. Hildebrandt had ropes around his wrists and ankles before he left her residence in August, according to court filings.

Officials said the youngster needed hospitalisation “because of his malnourishment and his deep lacerations from being tied up with rope.”

Franke’s other daughter was hospitalised for being underweight after the authorities intervened. The state took four of her children.

Franke became famous on YouTube in 2015 after launching 8 Passengers and producing parenting manuals for her six kids. This year, the channel closed early.

Franke was criticised for her harsh parenting as her fame grew. She said her youngster was reprimanded for months for sleeping on a bean bag and eating limitations.