What happened to YouTuber Ruby Franke and what’s the latest news from her hearing?
Ruby Franke, a US mummy blogger who rose to fame on YouTube, has been charged with six counts of felony child abuse. Ruby Franke, 41, ran a YouTube channel, 8 passengers, which documented her life with her husband Kevin and their six children.
Ruby has been charged with six counts of felony child abuse. If found guilty, she could face up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Ruby has yet to enter a plea for the six felony child abuse charges.Ruby is married to Kevin Franke, 44, a former professor at Brigham Young University in Utah. Ruby and Kevin met while attending college in Idaho and married in June 2002, after which Kevin helped Ruby run 8 Passengers.
However, some of the videos sparked criticism over Ruby's harsh parenting styles. In one video, she could be seen telling her sons they would 'lose the privilege to eat dinner' if they continued play-fighting. In another, she said that her six-year-old 'needed' to go hungry after forgetting to take her lunch to school. 'Hopefully nobody gives her food and nobody steps in and gives her a lunch, because then she's not going to learn,' she says in the video.
The outrage around Ruby's parenting techniques on YouTube continued to mount in 2022, when she said that her six-year-old 'needed' to go hungry after forgetting to take her lunch to school. As the backlash grew, TikTokers and YouTubers even created their own videos about the family, which garnered millions of views and led to older clips from 8 Passengers resurfacing.
Jodi Hildebrandt was arrested on Thursday 31 August on charges of felony child abuse. Jodi has yet to enter a plea for the six felony child abuse charges.Ruby Franke has six children, Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve. After Ruby’s arrest, her children were placed into the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services.
Ruby’s sisters, Mecham, Julie Deru, and Bonnie Hoellein released a statement saying that, for the last three years, they have kept 'quiet' about their siblings 'for the sake of her children.' They added that they tried everything they could to ensure the children were safe.Ruby and Jodi were supposed to appear in court in St George, Utah, on Friday 8 September, but the proceeding was delayed due to technical issues with the virtual hearing.