After YouTuber Ruby Franke shaped a friendship with Jodi Hildebrandt, the duo had been arrested for youngster abuse — however the place do they stand now?
Hildebrandt, who was the main target of a February 2025 episode of Investigation Discovery’s The Curious Case collection, received her begin as a Utah-based therapist. She later based ConneXions, which is a program that provided marital, parenting and life counseling — normally to fellow Mormons.
Earlier than they crossed paths, Ruby reached YouTube stardom in 2015 when she began her personal channel with now-estranged husband Kevin Franke. The previous couple and their six youngsters — Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve — had been the main target of day by day vlogs that showcased Ruby’s days as a stay-at-home mother.
Ruby and Hildebrandt turned pals in 2019 after connecting via their church. From there, Ruby and Kevin began attending ConneXions lessons, however their marriage subsequently fell aside. Ruby and Hildebrandt began to dwell along with Ruby’s youngsters till they had been arrested.
Ruby Franke rose to fame whereas documenting her household’s day by day life on her YouTube channel in 2015, a few of it controversial. After going through backlash for a few of her parenting selections, Ruby stopped her “8 Passengers” channel and went on to launch ConneXions with mentor Jodi Hildebrant in 2022. In August 2023, Franke was arrested on […]
In 2023, Ruby and Hildebrandt had been arrested and charged with six counts of felony youngster abuse. The arrest got here after Ruby’s youngest son, who was 12 years previous on the time, escaped from Hildebrandt’s residence and requested for assist from a neighbor.
Ruby pleaded responsible to 4 counts of kid abuse in December 2023 and admitted that she tortured her youngsters. As a part of the plea deal, she agreed to serve a jail time period and agreed that her sentences would run consecutively. She additionally agreed to testify in opposition to Hildebrandt, who pleaded responsible.
Hold scrolling for a breakdown of Ruby and Hildebrandt’s friendship — together with revelations about their connection from Investigation Discovery’s The Curious Case collection:
2019
4 years after Ruby created her “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, she related with Hildebrandt via their church. The host of “Hidden Crime” podcast Lauren Matthias revealed in ID’s February 2025 particular that Ruby and Kevin had been “in search of a therapist for his or her oldest son” when Hildebrandt was advisable to them.
The true crime collection included audio of Kevin’s voice, who mentioned, “Jodi all the time had a bigger curiosity in speaking with the mother and father greater than with the precise affected person. Her idea was that if you wish to assist your youngster, it’s important to assist your self first.”
2020
Ruby got here below fireplace in 2020 when her followers grew involved about her parenting. They created an internet petition asking youngster protecting companies to research the Franke household as a consequence of YouTube movies the place they mentioned taking their eldest son Chad’s mattress away for months as punishment and refusing to carry their then-6-year-old daughter lunch at college after she forgot to pack it herself.
Insider reported that Utah’s Division of Baby and Household Providers visited the Franke residence and interviewed the kids for 2 hours. The case was dropped as a consequence of lack of proof for the allegations.
“What individuals aren’t understanding is that we give our youngsters selection in all the pieces,” Ruby instructed the outlet on the time. “We’re educating our youngsters to be self-governing.”
Ruby Franke, who used to chronicle her giant brood’s day by day adventures on their “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, has been arrested. The YouTube persona, 41, was booked on Wednesday, August 30, in Springville, Utah, on two counts of aggravated youngster abuse. In response to the Washington County Sheriff Division web site, she is at present in police custody. Franke […]
2021
As Ruby went from Hildebrandt’s affected person to her buddy, she transitioned her YouTube channel into the “Mothers of Reality” account. Hildebrandt in the end moved into Ruby and Kevin’s residence, which he recounted in Investigation Discovery’s particular.
“The second she confirmed up at my home, the weirdest crap began occurring. Lights turning on and off,” Kevin recalled in an audio clip. “It was bizarre and I hated it. Ruby began to inspect her at evening. It began each 4 hours to each hour, and in some unspecified time in the future Ruby began sleeping in there. That was that. They began sleeping in the identical mattress.”
One other podcast host speculated about Ruby and Hildebrandt’s bond, saying, “There was monetary attraction and emotional attraction and psychological attraction. Was Jodi actually preventing together with her personal demons and preaching in opposition to sexual misconduct and but being consistently tormented as a closeted lesbian? I’m speculating there however these dots all join.”
Ruby and Hildebrandt haven’t publicly addressed the claims about their private lives. Ruby’s daughter Shari spoke out in regards to the “unusual relationship” between her mom and Hildebrandt after releasing her memoir, The Home of My Mom: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom.
“I by no means noticed something particular about that,” she mentioned on the In the present day present in January 2025. Shari wrote in her memoir that she discovered messages on Ruby’s laptop computer after her arrest that “confirmed for me the reality in regards to the nature of her relationship with Jodi and the way it had spilled over into the bodily.”
2022
Ruby and Kevin separated at Hildebrandt’s suggestion as a strategy to save their marriage. Consequently, Kevin was instructed to maneuver out of their residence and misplaced communication along with his spouse and kids. Ruby joined Hildebrandt’s “ConneXions” podcast, the place they shared their extraordinarily strict parenting philosophies.
Later that yr, Ruby and Hildebrandt moved her 4 youngest youngsters 300 miles away to Utah. Ruby and Hildebrandt began to punish her two youngest children whereas residing in Hildebrandt’s residence. In response to Investigation Discovery’s documentary, weeks earlier than their arrest, Ruby and Hildebrandt had been purchasing for distant ranch land in Arizona.
From Sherri Papini‘s kidnapping hoax to the 2 separate documentaries about Scott Peterson‘s homicide conviction, it’s protected to say that almost all streaming companies are investing in true crime in 2024. Netflix and Hulu normally nook the style by specializing in the latest — and most shocking — circumstances. It was Investigation Discovery, nevertheless, that […]
2023
Ruby’s then-12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt’s residence in August 2023 and received a neighbor to name the police about his emaciated situation. Ruby and Hildebrandt had been arrested and charged with six counts of aggravated youngster abuse.
The Curious Case collection included a recording of Ruby’s telephone name from jail two days after her arrest, by which she mentioned, “Poor Jodi. She places her neck out on the road for individuals after which they get mad at her. It’s simply horrendous.”
2023
Each Ruby and Hildebrandt pleaded responsible to 4 counts of aggravated youngster abuse and had been sentenced to between 4 and 60 years in jail. They gained’t serve over 30 years as a consequence of a Utah regulation referring to consecutive sentences.
“I took from you all that was delicate, and protected, and good,” Ruby mentioned forward of her sentencing. “I took from you your mom. How terrifying this should have been for you. I’ll by no means cease crying for hurting your tender souls. You’re so treasured to me. I’m sorry.”
2024
In a recording of Ruby’s name from jail months after her arrest, she modified her tune about Hildebrandt, saying, “This has been the strangest and probably the most miraculous intervention. It put everybody the place they wanted to be. It separated me from Jodi so I’m not listening to her. I feel not listening to her has cleared lots of issues up for me.”
Hildebrandt’s jail audio was additionally recorded, the place she defended herself and mentioned Ruby’s son “did that to himself” when discussing his in depth accidents.
From the homicide of Gabby Petito to the Rust tragedy, many true crime documentaries are coming our means in 2025. Hulu introduced in February the discharge of Final Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna, which comes two years after actor Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 following cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ […]
2024
YouTube has banned Ruby and Hildebrandt and deleted the channels related to their names. Hildebrandt’s counseling license was frozen following their arrest.
Ruby’s estranged husband, Kevin, is in search of custody of his youngsters. He subsequently sued Hildebrandt for intentional infliction of emotional misery, negligent infliction of emotional misery and negligence for him and his youngsters.
“It’s a lot to cope with day-after-day, the questions of what if, what may have been carried out, what ought to have occurred, what I ought to have carried out, what others ought to have carried out, it haunts you,” Kevin instructed Utah’s KSL after submitting a petition for divorce.
2025
Ruby is at present serving a 4 to 30 yr sentence on the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake Metropolis. She gained’t seem earlier than the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole — which determines the precise size of her sentence — till December 2026. The identical applies for Hildebrandt, who can also be serving her 4 to 30 yr sentence on the Utah State Correctional Facility.
