Pablo Scarpellini Los Angeles
The Angels
Updated Friday, March 8, 2024-16:33
He left his children without food or water.
He tied their hands and feet.
He forced them to sleep in a chair for months.
It isolated them and prohibited their access to books or electronics.
He even went so far as to convince the two youngest of a litter of six that they were demonic and possessed.
But far from hiding
his toxic attitude and abuse
from her, she shared them on networks for years and became immensely popular in the attempt, an
influencer
from a town in Utah who is an expert in early childhood education.
Her channel had
2.3 million followers
on YouTube at its peak.
She has now just been sentenced, along with her partner, to serve a sentence of up to 30 years behind bars for her crimes.
Ruby Franke
posted videos on YouTube for years, where she exposed part of her torture.
In one of them, her teenage son appears acknowledging that he had been without a bedroom for seven months, spending the nights on a
beanbag
as punishment.
In another, she vehemently defends her decision not to bring food to school for her six-year-old daughter, Eve, after having forgotten her lunch at home.
"I hope no one intervenes and gives him food," she said.
There are recordings of the
YouTuber
threatening to cut off the head of one of the teddy bears and take away Christmas gifts from another.
But her public revelations never went beyond intense controversy and angry criticism from some of her millions of followers on her social networks.
Franke allowed herself the luxury of giving interviews on television and talking about her particular way of raising her children.
Until the police received a call from a neighbor, on August 30 of last year, explaining that he had a child at the door of his house who
was desperately asking for help
.
The young man, 12 years old, had managed to free himself from the insulating tape with which they had tied him.
He then jumped out of a window and ran to the house next door, shortly before 11 a.m. that Wednesday.
"He has tape around his wrists and his ankles.
He is hungry.
He's thirsty.
He is very scared
.
"He has clearly been held captive and is full of wounds," he said with a broken voice.
Shortly after, the police showed up in the luxurious neighborhood where Franke lived - a residential area outside St George, in southern Utah - and arrested her and her partner,
Jodi Hildebrandt
, a 54-year-old mental health counselor. years who charged up to
$3,000
per session to his patients, and who opened a YouTube channel with Franke, ConneXions, in which they offered advice to parents on education and lifestyle.
Franke had moved into the Hildebrandt mansion - valued at about $5 million - after separating from her husband, Kevin Franke, the previous year on the recommendation of her partner who, in addition to being a well-known psychologist in the area, had a position of power within the Mormon church of Utah.
Ruby Franke (right), with her partner, Hodi Hildebrandt.
The minor was so malnourished that he was immediately taken to a hospital, with "
deep wounds
" from having been tied with insulating tape.
In the subsequent search of the house, they found the younger sister, aged ten, in a similar condition, also taken to the same hospital.
In total, the area's social services took care of four of her six children.
Hours later, both suspects were arrested for alleged child abuse, charges to which they later pleaded guilty.
At trial they accused them of keeping the children "in a concentration camp," where they were forced to work barefoot outside the house and exposed to sunburn, frequently deprived of water and food, and psychologically tortured.
Franke told them that the punishments were
"acts of love"
for being possessed and demons.
He also let his partner participate in the torture, kicking the
children with their boots on
and putting one of the children's heads under water.
Her youngest, six years old, was left isolated for long periods of time and made to run barefoot on dirt roads.
Franke, a 42-year-old
influencer
capable of generating close to five million dollars over eight years, between sponsors of her YouTube channel and other derived income, declared that she had settled for four years in a state of paranoia and hallucination that led her to think that the world "was a demonic place controlled by police, brainwashing government agencies, and church members who lied and committed impure acts."
That
paranoia
led her to abuse her children, as she explained, and to accept the punishment of her going to prison.
It is a case that dates back to 2015, when the couple posted the first video about their peculiar relationship with their children.
Their channel, 8
Passengers
, was nourished by the apparent image of an idyllic family that they portrayed, until they began to share their torture of children and a barrage of criticism came upon them, including a signature campaign for the authorities to intervene.
The former YouTuber faces
a long sentence
, awaiting the judge's decision.
Paradoxically, there are no charges against her ex-husband.
She is now fighting to regain custody of her four minor children.