Ruby Franke’s family wrote letters to a Utah judge ahead of the former vlogger’s sentencing over child abuse, saying that she was “deeply brainwashed” after meeting her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt.
“She was delusional. She was so deeply brainwashed we could not recognize her,” they wrote as they pleaded for mercy.
“During her career on YouTube, she often told me that her desire was to spread the message that ‘mothers are important and that mothers have strength in nurturing their children,’” Franke’s brother, Beau Griffiths, said in a written statement.
“I never had any concern for her and her children, and I was impressed with how generous and kind she has always been to my own children.”
“Many of the teachings from the Connexions program were reasonable and good,” his statement continued. “Unfortunately, as I later discovered, that is what made the program so dangerous.”
But the judge decided to give Franke, along with Hildebrandt, four consecutive prison terms for the child abuse charges they pleaded guilty to in December.
In a tearful statement made in court, Franke claimed she had been deceived by a “dark delusion.”
The mother-of-six was once a YouTube sensation, drawing in millions of subscribers to her channel where she offered parenting advice. But her reputation unravelled when she and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023 after one of Franke’s sons escaped Hildebrandt’s home.
In a harrowing 911 call, the neighbour said: “I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help.
“And he’s said he had just come from a neighbor’s house and we know there’s been problems at this neighbor’s house.”
The neighbour added: “He is emaciated. He’s got tape around his legs. He’s hungry and he’s thirsty.”
The malnourished boy later said that Hildebrandt put cayenne pepper and honey on their wounds that were caused by being tied with the rope, according to arrest warrants.
Franke and Hildebrandt have 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision.
Now, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will consider their behavior while incarcerated and determine how much of that time each will spend behind bars.
