Hidden True Crime - Kevin Franke SLAMS Jodi Hildebrandt in Newly Filed Lawsuit Claiming Isolation, Manipulation and…

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

A new lawsuit is pulling back the curtain on Kevin Franke’s life inside Jodi Hildebrandt’s grip. In newly filed court documents, Franke lays out disturbing claims of psychological abuse, manipulation, and control — revealing a darker side to the therapist who once had access to his family. Could these allegations explain how this nightmare unfolded? About Hidden True Crime: What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at Patreon.com/hiddentruecrime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Well, this is an episode you'll not want to miss because there is a newly filed lawsuit against Jody Hildebrand and it offers a rare and detailed look into what Kevin Frankie claims he endured. It's a rare, detailed glimpse into what Kevin says really happened, and it could change the way you see this case entirely. After Ruby Frankie's two youngest children were rescued from Jody Hildebrand's home, the details revealed a disturbing picture of abuse

and manipulation, all hidden behind the facade of religion, therapy, and self-help. Soon others came forward with their own stories about Jody, people who trusted her as a therapist and spiritual guide only to be psychologically controlled and their lives destroyed. Despite mounting evidence in firsthand accounts, many still struggle to understand how parents like Ruby and Kevin Frankie could allow someone like Jody to hurt their children. Most parents are fiercely protective. We want to believe that we'd recognize danger before, it could tear our family apart. Yet even after documentaries, Kevin's interview and expert opinions on brainwashing and coercive control, people still question how Kevin could let such

cruelty unfold in his own family. Kevin claims that by the time things reached his darkest point, he was no longer in the home, shut out, and powerless. He claims Jody had broken him down so deeply he couldn't see a way out or recognize how far things had gone. And now, in a significant addition to these claims, Kevin Frankie and his legal team have filed a new 15-page lawsuit against Jody Hildebrand. The allegations center around negligence in mental health treatment, but they also offer deeper insight into the psychological tactics Jody allegedly used, tactics that may explain how the Frankie family and others suffered under her control. So stay with us as we break down what this lawsuit reveals and what it could mean.

moving forward. There is a lot to unpack. So the first part of the lawsuit lays out some foundational background. It explains that Jody Hildebrand was a licensed mental health therapist officially registered as a clinical mental health counselor, but that license was revoked by the Utah division of professional licensing on May 10, 2024. Kevin Frankie is now seeking damages exceeding $300,000 and has fulfilled all pre-litigation requirements under the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act. So the next part of the lawsuit gives some background on Kevin and Ruby's relationship and how Jody Hilda Brand entered the picture.

So it says that Kevin and Ruby were married on December 28, 2000, and together they had six children. These children are Sherry, Chad, A-F, J-F, R-F, and EF. The document also points out that Ruby has never been licensed or certified to provide any kind of professional services, meaning she wasn't trained as a therapist or counselor in any official way. The lawsuit claims Kevin got to know Jody through Ruby since the two of them had a close personal and business relationship. So before everything unraveled in 2022, according to the lawsuit, Jody brought Ruby into work with her on a Facebook group she created

called Moms of Truth. At the time, Jody was still a practicing mental health counselor. Jody regularly featured Ruby in social media content to promote her counseling business connections. Connections with an ex. She was also selling and distributing written materials related to her work, presenting herself as a trusted mental health professional. Well, that all came to a halt on August 30th, 2023, when Jody was arrested and charged with abusing several of Kevin and Ruby's children. And before her arrest, Jody repeatedly told Kevin and Ruby, both in conversations and through her written material, that she was a licensed mental health professional. She talked up her credentials, her reputation, and her education, making it clear she was licensed as a clinical mental health counselor in Utah. She also pitched her services and promoted the books and workbooks she had written, which Kevin and Ruby ended up purchasing.

These materials also listed her professional credentials, including her Utah license. The documents state that Jody often referred to herself, though, as a psychologist. Yeah, just like Dr. John, my co-host, a psychologist, which made Kevin and Ruby believe that was her actual title. Let me be clear, you cannot be a psychologist without a doctorate in psychology. The lawsuit even points to her police interrogation video from August 30th, 20th, 23 as proof of her making that claim that she's a psychologist. Take a listen. The whole reason we're sitting here today is we just,

there's a lot of questions we have that we just maybe misunderstandings that we just need clarify. I know and I'd love to tell you if you were here because I don't know, I don't, I don't know what's going to happen with what I say. You know, I, I watch, I'm a psychologist. I've watched people flip things all the time. So I get it. I sit on your side.

I get it. So in the spring of 2022, Jody told Kevin that based on her supposed experience, education, and expertise as a licensed mental health counselor and psychologist, she had diagnosed Kevin with a long list of serious issues. So according to Jody, in this lawsuit, Kevin was lustful, narcissistic, manipulative, deceptive, controlling, and selfish. But here's the thing.

She made these claims without doing any kind of proper assessment, testing, or formal diagnosis. Again, as you know from our program and from our podcast, Dr. John explains all of the testing, all of the assessments, everything you would have to do to diagnose somebody with these types of things. That wasn't done according to this lawsuit and what Kevin Frankie is saying. And Jody didn't stop there. Jody also shared this so-called diagnosis with Ruby. Convincing Ruby, it was true that this is what her husband suffered with. She then persuaded Ruby to go along with her version of events and to follow her guidance,

Jody's guidance, for what she called remedial treatment, not just for Kevin, but for the whole family. Kevin agreed to work with Jody, believing she was acting in a professional capacity. And at that point, according to this lawsuit, she officially began providing him mental health services, placing herself in a position of serious responsibility and trust as a licensed health care provider in the state of Utah. Jody's so-called professional advice went even further. Jody actually told Kevin that because of his alleged emotional and mental health issues, he should have no contact at all with his children. She claimed his presence could negatively impact them and might even cause them to develop the same problem,

problems that Jody said Kevin had. Jody framed this as part of Kevin's treatment plan. And then on July 20th, 2020, Jody and Ruby took it a step further. And they told Kevin and their oldest son Chad, Kevin and Ruby's oldest son Chad, who was 17 at the time that they both needed to leave the family home. According to Jody and Ruby,

this separation was necessary to protect the other children and to preserve the family. Not only were Kevin and Chad told to leave, but they were also told to cut off all communication with the rest of the family, including Ruby. So at that point, both Kevin and Chad were paying Jody for her services. Kevin had also enrolled in her online men's therapy group, trusting Jody's credentials, education, and professional license. And with Ruby fully supporting Jody's guidance, Kevin and Chad followed her advice. they moved out of the home and cut off contact just as Jody had instructed. So according to the lawsuit, Jody found out that Kevin and Chad were living together after leaving the family home and she was not happy.

So she told them they actually needed to separate immediately. In Jody's view, them staying together would only make things worse. So she wanted to completely isolate them according to this lawsuit. She claimed it enable each other's bad behavior and that being around one another would just continue the issues that she's had diagnosed, diagnosed without assessment or testing. So Jody insisted that Chad and Kevin not only stay apart from their family, but from each other as well, completely isolate them. She ordered them to cut off all contact even though they were father and son. And at the same time, Chad was paying for weekly therapy sessions with Jody at just 17 years old, and she had actually raised his fee

to around $900 a month. Kevin was also paying for his own spot in Jody's online men's therapy group, which started back in July of 2022. Jody asked Kevin to pay through Venmo saying it was easier, and he ended up paying between $300 and $375 each month just to participate in group sessions, not even one-on-one therapy, group sessions. Sometimes Jody was there, sometimes she wasn't.

And the document states that Jody knew, a lot, a lot about the Frankie family, including their deep devotion to their faith, their LDS or Mormon faith, and their commitment to marriage and family. So again, according to this lawsuit, Jody used that knowledge to manipulate Kevin. Jody knew how important Kevin's religious beliefs were to him and she used that against him. He was paying her for what he believed was legitimate professional therapy, all in hopes of saving his marriage to Ruby and keeping his family together. But instead, Jody twisted those values to gain control. Jody told Kevin that unless he followed her instructions exactly,

his soul was at risk of being damned. And it didn't stop there. During his separation from the family, Jody reportedly had other men in her online therapy group join in the pressure, due pressure and peer pressure. These men under Jody's direction warned Kevin that if he didn't change fast enough, Ruby was going to lose patience and divorce him. So peer pressure, if you don't do this, Kevin,

then, you know, you're going to get divorced. The lawsuit continues. So this created a constant sense of fear in Kevin, fear that if he didn't obey Jody completely, 100%, he'd lose his family, his faith, and everything he was trying to protect. It kept him locked in believing he had no choice but to comply with whatever Jody said.

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Direct deposit $1,000 a month and fund an investing account for a 0.25% increase. Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brogeridge, LLC, member FINRA, SIPC, not a bank. And while Jody was forcing Kevin to stay completely cut off from Ruby and the kids, she was also emotionally and mental abusing other clients who broke her so-called no-contact rule. According to the lawsuit, if any man in her program tried to reach out to his wife or children, Jody would accuse him of being selfish and disrespectful, saying it showed he didn't value his marriage or honor his wife's wishes. In those cases, Jody would often advise the wife to consider divorce. That's an odd thing for a therapist to do, by the way, if what this lawsuit says is true, hey, by the way, maybe you should divorce him. Probably a line a therapist shouldn't cross, but let's continue. There were only

two times, according to this lawsuit, when Jody actually encouraged Kevin to communicate directly with Ruby. One was in February of 2023, and the other came after he was fired from his professor job at Brigham Young University in June of 2023. But even then, the communication wasn't healthy or supportive. Both times, Jody instructed Kevin to write letters to Ruby, his wife, not letters of reconciliation or understanding, the letters of confessions. Jody told Kevin to list out everything he had done that she had labeled as selfish, narcissistic, lustful, entitled, or manipulative. Jody then told Ruby to hold on to these confession letters not to work on the marriage, but to use these letters as leverage in case Ruby decided to file for divorce.

So she literally got Kevin to give Ruby leverage in a divorce, according to this lawsuit. And between August of 2022 and August of 2023, while Kevin was participating in Jody's online men's therapy group, the lawsuit says she was extremely mentally abusive towards him. She berated and belittled him. And in addition to calling him manipulative, deceptive, controlling narcissistic, lustful, and selfish, she accused him of being a, quote, lover of darkness, and quote. She said that he was a lover of Satan. That's also in quotes, and claimed that he was hiding, in quotes,

something very dark and evil, and quote. Jody refused to offer Kevin help or counseling unless he confess to whatever the supposed darkness was. But Kevin says he had no idea what Jody was even talking about. Still, Jody insisted there was something. Kevin was hiding and used that confusion against him, pushing him to admit to things he didn't understand just to appease Jody. Kevin even asked for private one-on-one session so he could work through these issues more directly,

which, by the way, would be a typical thing for a licensed therapist to do with someone. A one-on-one session is probably what she should be doing. But rather than accepting this, Jody refused one-on-one sessions. Instead, she told Kevin to talk it out with other. men in this online men's group and her group men, she was also coaching under these same manipulative methods. And again, according to this lawsuit, over the course of more than 300 hours of group therapy sessions, Jody's behavior became even more disturbing. According to the lawsuit during these sessions, she would privately message other group members sharing

confidential details about Kevin, including personal struggles, family issues, and sensitive information he had shared in therapy. She then instructed those groups. She then instructed those group members to use that information to mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually attack Kevin. They would, quote, call him out in front of the group, accusing him of inappropriate behavior or comments, end quote, all under Jody's direction. But it didn't stop there, according to this lawsuit. While treating Kevin, Jody also shared graphic and personal details about her other patient's lives and choices. That's shocking. That is a major breach of trust and confidentiality instead of a safe, supportive environment, these sessions were becoming a tool for

control, public shaming, and psychological manipulation. In September of 2022, Jody delivered another blow to Kevin Frankie, one that struck at the core of his faith. She told him, according to this lawsuit, that he was not worthy to hold an LDS temple recommend, which is required to enter the temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And for Kevin, who believed he had been living in accordance with the standards of his faith this cut deeply, Jody's words had such a strong impact than when it came time for him to renew his LDS, Temple Recommend in 2023, Kevin didn't go to the meeting. And by then, Jody had convinced him that trying to renew it would make him a hypocrite, that he was unworthy and unfit to serve in the temple.

Well, she didn't stop there. Jody also told Kevin that getting fired from Brigham Young University, that is a church-owned university. LDS Church owns Brigham Young University. And this is where he worked. That getting fired from there would actually be the best thing for Kevin. She said it would help his recovery, that maybe losing his job would finally wake him up because let me point out that since this is a church-owned university and a private university, if a professor doesn't have a temple recommend, he would look.

lose his job. And in Jody's words, men like Kevin weren't worthy to work at BYU. And because he didn't renew his temple recommend, Kevin was eventually fired in June of 2023 since holding a current, again, Temple recommend was required for employment at this private university. But instead of offering support, Jody scolded Kevin, she told him the job loss was his own fault, called it unnecessary, and used it as more proof that Kevin was, in her words, a selfish person. What Kevin didn't know was that from about mid-May, 2023, until August 30th, 2023, Jody had Ruby and their children living at her home in Ivan's, Utah. We know this, because this is where police found them.

And she never told Kevin this, though, according to this lawsuit. And while she was treating Kevin, and I mean Jody, when Jody was treating Kevin and charging him for counseling services that were supposed to help reunite the family, Jody was actually secretly isolating and abusing his children behind his back. In fact, during this time, she was even advising Ruby to get tested for STDs. So while her official goal was to bring the family back together, in reality, Jody was driving a wedge between them, according to this lawsuit, keeping Kevin and his family apart and causing more harm than help.

During the same time, as part of her efforts to break up the family. family, Jody convinced Ruby to start making plans to buy a piece of property in Arizona. To fund this, Jody persuaded Ruby to cash out financial accounts that belong to Ruby, Kevin, and their children, about $80,000 in total. The plan was for Jody and Ruby to move to this new property out of state in Arizona taking the children with them. And as a side note, we do know this from police reports and what we know about the abuse and what has. And what has. happened there and their charges. And I can only imagine what would have happened, by the way, if they were able to move to Arizona out of state. What would have happened to those children

that were being abused? But nonetheless, let's go back to this lawsuit. So back to the lawsuit. This purchase wasn't for the family's benefit, this Arizona property. It was for Jody's own gain, coming at the expense of her patient. And all of this happened while Jody was officially providing counseling to Kevin, supposedly with the goal of reuniting the family that she was actually isolating, abusing, and planning to separate even further by moving them out of state. And amid everything going on during Kevin's last men's group session on July 26, 2023, Jody suddenly announced she was immediately suspending Kevin's therapy sessions with her. She told him that God had instructed her that Kevin needed absolute solitude to heal. She said Kevin was to be a sudden,

to be completely isolated with no communication except with God. Jody warned Kevin that if he broke this isolation, it would almost certainly cost him his marriage and family. At the same time, while Kevin was cut off and isolated, Jody had his wife Ruby and their children living in her home. And behind the scenes, Jody was engaged in criminal behavior severely abusing Kevin's children emotionally, mentally and physically. This evidence, this abuse, and evidence is part of the official court records, including photos and statements from Jody's criminal case. Ultimately, Jody was convicted and sentenced to prison for these crimes. This lawsuit lays out a series of serious claims against Jody Hilderan, accusing her of falling,

bailing and falling far below the standard of care expected from a mental health professional. These allegations include, are you ready, failing to properly diagnose Kevin's mental health condition or explain how her diagnosis justified the treatment she provided. Using unprofessional, inappropriate, or even harmful methods of treatment, misdiagnosing Kevin's condition on purpose. Having conflicting relationships with Kevin, this family, and other patients, which is unethical, acting against the best interests of Kevin's children, even though her job was supposed to help the family,

committing criminal acts against Kevin's children, sharing Kevin's private information with his wife, Ruby, going against Kevin's best interests, being dishonest and acting primarily for Jody's own benefit, not Kevin's well-being, claiming to practice psychology without being licensed to do so, engaging in behavior that led to her license being suspended and eventually revoked by the Utah Licensing Board, showing gross incompetence and negligence in her professional work, practicing under false or misleading pretences, and finally, verbally, physically, mentally, or sexually abusing or exploiting people connected to her work.

All of this together paints a picture of serious misconduct, both professionally and criminally, that deeply impacted Kevin and his family. The next part of the lawsuit explains the types of injuries and damages Kevin has suffered as a result of Jody's actions, and these include being subjected to unnecessary and harmful mental health treatments and advice all while paying for those services, financial damages covering the cost of past, ongoing, and future mental health care needed to heal from the damage.

General damages for physical and emotional pain, anxiety, depression, loss of enjoyment of life, and other limitations, including injuries that might still show up later, linked to the abuse and mistreatment of Kevin, his wife, and children. Costs for attorney fees, therapy, lost income, and out-of-pocket expenses Kevin and his family have had to deal with to respond to and try to fix the harm done. Expenses related to rebuilding and restoring his family, including the long process of getting his children out of state custody, which lasted nearly 20 months and was a direct result of Jody's criminal and unprofessional conduct. And finally, any other damages the court thinks are appropriate. The lawsuit claims that

all of these injuries and damages were caused directly by Jody's negligent and harmful actions toward Kevin and his family. So now, let's break down the first cause of action in the lawsuit, negligence. Kevin repeats all of the allegations we've already talked about and says that Jody owed him a duty of care as her patient. And because Kevin was in a vulnerable emotional state, Jody held a position of trust over him. I do agree with this. But instead of protecting and helping Kevin, Kevin claims that she breached the duty of using

improper and harmful mental health techniques like, we've discussed earlier. In the prayer for relief, which is basically what Kevin is asking the court to do, he wants, compensation for all damages he's entitled to under Utah law, payment for economic damages like medical bills and lost income, which will be proven at trial,

payment for non-economic damages, including emotional pain and suffering, pre-judgment interest, money that accumulates from the time the harm happened until the judgment. attorney fees and court costs, and any other relief the court thinks is fair. Finally, Kevin has requested a jury trial, meaning he wants a group of citizens to hear the case and decide the outcome as allowed by Utah's rules, and I'm here for it. I bring on the jury trial.

This newly filed lawsuit against Jody Hill-Darrant offers a rare and detailed look into what Kevin Frankie says he endured. perspective many may not have fully considered before. Of course, there will still be people who think that Kevin should have been stronger, that he should have protected his family and stood up to Jody before she could cause so much damage. A common perspective as he was his young children's last line of defense, and then he walked away. But the allegations in this suit suggest a far more complex reality, one involving psychological control, manipulation, and fear at the hands of someone who presented herself as a trusted professional. What emerges is a chilling reminder of the

danger when someone in a respected role, especially one that blends therapy with spiritual guidance abuses that position. In this case, Hildebrand wasn't seen by some merely as a therapist. She was viewed almost as a spiritual leader. She certainly saw herself as that, giving her a power hold over those seeking help. And that combination of influence and authority can become a weapon when used to isolate, control, and manipulate. The case underscores the need for safeguards in churches, institutions, and families when recommending anyone to counsel others through emotional or spiritual struggles. Without oversight, the very people meant to heal can become the ones causing the deepest harm. And as far as hidden true crime goes, we'll continue following this story and lawsuit wherever

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