Ruby Franke Arrested for Child Abuse
On Aug. 30, the mother behind the “8 Passengers” Youtube channel, Ruby Franke, was arrested along with her manager/business partner, Jodi Hildebrant. The arrest followed an incident where Franke’s youngest child climbed out of a window malnourished, with open wounds, asking a neighbor for food. The two were both charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse without bail. There is a long history of mistreatment behind the YouTube channel and Franke’s business, ConneXions.
What lies ahead for her children and husband is unclear. There are many followers of the case across social media platforms; the seemingly perfect facade of her channel is a reminder that appearances can be deceiving.
Ruby Franke started this channel in 2015 to document her family’s life with her six children in Utah; a seemingly normal suburban, Mormon, life.
According to an article published by NBC news, a female neighbor and others in the times. In some videos, Franke mentioned “punishments” such as taking away her child’s bed for seven months and refusing to drop off lunch for her six-year old after she had forgotten to take it to school.
In 2022, Franke took a step back from YouTube and focused on her new business “ConneXions.” ConneXions claimed their business would help struggling parents learn “disciplinary” parenting techniques. This style of parenting brought criticism and concern; viewers felt they were “borderline cult-like.”
One of the neighbors of Franke told NBC News that the youngest daughter, Eve, who is now 10 years old, wandered the neighborhood while her mother was away from the home for lengthy periods of time, which was after Kevin Franke was kicked out. Neighbors had speculation that she was not attending school due to her time roaming the town looking for friends in the community.
At the same time, Franke cut contact with her extended family and her oldest daughter, Shari, who left the family. Shari has since spoken out about how she disagrees with the teachings of her mother, and ultimately removed herself from the family situation. Franke’s sisters, Bonnie Hoellein and Julie Griffiths Deru, have both made videos speaking up. They have made it clear they were not aware of the abuse but did everything they legally could to help the children.
Hoellein stated many times in her video that Franke’s husband, Kevin, is the one person who could have helped, but chose not to. His lawyer has reported that Kevin Franke is currently trying to do what’s best for his children, and that he was not privy to the abuse, as he was
