Law&Crime Sidebar - Ruby Franke to Enter Guilty Plea in Child Abuse Case, Blames Co-Defendant for Twisted Acts

Episode Date: December 16, 2023

The YouTube mom accused of abusing her two young children is reportedly set to enter a plea agreement in her criminal case. Ruby Franke is now blaming her co-defendant and business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, for leading her astray and allegedly influencing her to commit twisted acts against her own family. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down the shocking development.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. The attorney for Ruby Frankie about a week ago, and I said, hey, anything coming down the bike you want to let us know about, obviously we've been following the case. And they said, we hope to have a statement in the next few weeks. And what a statement it was. We have just learned that accused child abuser Ruby Frankie is planning to enter into a plea deal in her criminal case. We're going to break it down. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Well, hello there, everybody. We are doing a special bonus sidebar episode here on the weekend. You might be saying,

why are we doing this here on the weekend? That is because we were hit with this bombshell on Friday night in the Ruby Frankie case out of Utah. And that is that according to Frankie's lawyers, she plans to enter into a plea agreement on Monday. Think about that. We've been covering this case for three months. So this is a major, major development and actually something that we talked about on a previous sidebar. Before we even get into that, quick recap about the case and how we got here. So Ruby Frankie is the former creator and star of her now defunct YouTube channel called 8 Passengers. She started it with her husband, Kevin Frankie. It documented their lives. It documented their lives as parents of their six children. And while the channel

was extremely popular and boasted over 2 million subscribers, it became very controversial when you hear some of the parenting techniques and advice of Ruby Frankie. However, listening to all of your comments and your feedback. I think I understand where some people are coming from the like, oh, the parents don't give their kids beds. And I totally agree with that. I know there are lots of children out there whose parents are neglectful. We got accused of child when we sent Chad to Anasazi. Guess what? The first thing that they did was take a bed away. They don't have beds. So Chad slept on the hard ground for months and it's, you know, it's run by psychologists and therapists. And if not having a bed was psychologically damaging, then they wouldn't

have suggested that. And we have come to learn in our research in covering this case that Ruby and Kevin have separated. They've been not together for over a year. And Ruby started working with a woman named Jody Hildebrand, kind of like a self-help counselor. They worked together at this organization known as connections. Ruby was listed as a certified mental fitness trainer. So she started, so she's in this business with Jody, separated from her husband, and then you fast forward to August of this year. She and Jody, her business partner, are each arrested in charge with six counts of aggravated child abuse of Frankie's two young children. They were staying at Hildebrand's place. Her 12-year-old son managed to escape Hildebrand's home, ran to

a neighbor who called 911. The boy was reportedly emaciated with wounds. There was evidence that he had been tied up. His 10-year-old sister, Ruby's daughter, was reportedly found in the house in similar condition. She was taken to the hospital to be treated for malnourishment. Ruby and Jody, they were each charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse. And it ranges from everything from physical torture to injuries that result in emotional

harm to starvation and so on. And it was our understanding that. Each count, each one of those aggravated child abuse counts, carried a max of 15 years in prison. Now, I spoke with Brian Schnee, who's been following this case since the very beginning. Brian Schnee is a reporter and anchor from KUTV 2 News. And we had been talking just, I think it was last week, about how prosecutors requested a court hearing for December 18th. It was called a waiver hearing, and it was to see whether a defendant in Utah waives the preliminary hearing. You know, the preliminary hearing is where prosecutors lay out their evidence to a judge to determine

if there's sufficient probable cause to move forward in the case. A defendant in Utah has the ability that's their right to actually waive the hearing. And one of the things Brian and I speculated about was whether this could mean that there is a plea deal in the works. And he actually referenced an email he received from Ruby Frankie's lawyers. I do want to read you that email. Please. Because I do have it in front of me. So this was stated Wednesday, November 29th. So we're looking more than a week now when I last was able to hear back from Lamar Winward's crew there in St. George, Utah. Our firm will be making a statement in the upcoming weeks or so on Ms. Frankie's behalf. We are hopeful to reach a resolution shortly and we'll reach out with a statement. So when I heard waiver hearing and then that's in my brain, waiver hearing could be more significant than anything else that we've seen so far and could in theory wrap this whole thing up.

Okay. So now you fast forward to last night, Friday, December 15th, and Winward Law, again, the firm representing Ruby Frankie, releases a statement that she is planning to enter into a plea agreement. I'm going to go through the statement with you. We'll break it down. So first, it says, Winward Law is making a statement on behalf of Ruby Frankie regarding the pending charges in the Washington County Fifth District Court along with their thoughts

about her current family situation. Our client is working with the prosecutor's office and anticipates resolving this matter quickly by entering a plea agreement with the court on Monday, December 18. Wow. So that part is key, right? Because there seems to be an agreement that has been worked out between Frankie and the prosecutor's office. It's not like they're just putting off this offer. There has been negotiations behind the scenes. And I wonder if that means little to no prison time as a part of this. Why would Ruby agree to this? I got to tell you, I would be quite surprised if prosecutors would allow Frankie to stay out of prison altogether, given that they accuse her of starving and torturing

her children. Now, it could be that they decided maybe to drop a charge, or they don't feel that they have enough to prove a certain aspect of this case. Or maybe they do have the goods. Maybe they can prove all six charges, but in the interest of saving time and money and the heartache of a trial, after all, it seems to me that her kids would have to testify against her, and that can be incredibly overwhelming and difficult for those young children. Maybe she decided to plead guilty to all of the charges, but her punishment maybe won't be as severe as multiple years in prison, multiple years behind bars. But that does lead me to the next point of this statement. It goes on to say, Ruby Frankie is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement.

Initially, Ms. Frankie believed that Jody Hildebrand had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrand took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous. Over an extended period, Ms. Hildebrandt systematically isolated Ruby Frankie from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Frankie. this prolonged isolation resulted in Ms. Frankie being subjected to a distorted sense of morality shaped by Ms. Hildebrand's influence. Wow. So Ruby Frankie is officially turning on Jody Hilderbrand. It seems to me that she may have agreed to be a witness against Jody Hilderbrand at her trial, right? Testify against her.

Now, I can't say I'm not surprised by that, considering in our coverage of this case, specifically when we had the opportunity to interview Jesse Hildebrand, Jody Hildebrand's niece, they said that they were abused by Jody and those allegations are very consistent with what we just heard from this statement. And she would tell me all the time, if you just confess, I will stop. You confess I will stop, which is torture. Jody is very smart in how she approaches her therapeutic modalities. Because they are so extreme, if she were just to start out with those things, everyone would recognize it and they would be shocked and be like absolutely not. She's very subtle.

She's very subtle and she's very calculated. So she strips you of identity. She strips you of credibility and she isolate. And so she's saying everything that you say is a lie. everything that you say is manipulation you're manipulating everyone around you you're lying and destroying everyone's life so that idea of manipulation and isolation that is very consistent with what ruby is now claiming through her lawyers by the way we're going to back to this in a second but honestly this is really disturbing stuff and the cases that we cover on sidebar just show that the world

is not always safe it can be scary and i actually want to take a minute then to talk now about a sponsor this video. Morgan and Morgan, we always appreciate their support. Because one of the scariest things in life can be if you get hurt and you don't know what to do. So Morgan and Morgan is actually the largest injury law firm in America. And at a time when you're going to already have so much on your mind and to think about, they make it super easy for you. They've completely modernized the process because you submit your claim, you sign contracts, you upload documents, you talk to your whole legal team all on your phone. That's it. Attorney's going to review your case in eight clicks. They have 4,000 support staff that can help you too. That is just amazing to think

about. And if you're thinking about price and you're wondering about it, well, you only pay them if you win. There's no upfront fee. So if you're injured and you want to join the over three million people that call them every year, you can submit a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar or by dialing pound law. That's pound 529 on your phone. Going back to Ruby Frankie, though, this statement from her lawyer continues. And it says, quote, during Ruby Frankie's incarceration in Washington County Jail over the past few months, she is actively engaged in an introspection that has allowed her to reset her moral compass and understand the full weight of her actions. Ms. Frankie is committed to taking responsibility for the part she played in the

events leading up to her incarceration. Demonstrating a sincere dedication to personal growth and rehabilitation. She has actively begun the process by reaching out to members of her family. Through heartfelt apologies, she seeks to mend relationships and contribute positively to the healing journey of her family. So that signals to me a few things. First, from the legal point of view, it's kind of like a time served argument, right? Because whatever deal she ends up working out with prosecutors, if someone looks at that and says that doesn't seem like significant prison time, it seems based on this statement that she's saying, well, she's already served some time behind bars for what she did for these allegations.

Now, from a human point of view, it's really a 180 from Ruby Frankie who had been defending her parenting techniques for so long. This idea that she's trying to be a part of her family again understands what she did was wrong. But also we have to remember that as much as she seems to be accepting what she did, she's also accused of abusing her children and maybe feeling the weight of these charges, the gravity of the case, the gravity that she could spend years behind bars, so someone might be a little skeptical of what she's saying right now. But the next part of the lawyer's statement actually addresses Kevin filing for divorce. It says, quote, Ruby is aware that Kevin Frankie has filed for divorce.

While she is devastated by this news, she acknowledges and understands his anger and reasoning. Despite the pain, she respects his decisions and remains hopeful that. that with time, she can contribute to rebuilding trust and fostering understanding within their family. Ruby has offered her full cooperation to help the children reunite with their father. Again, wow. So it doesn't seem like this is going to be a contentious divorce, at least from that statement. And when we spoke to Kevin's attorney, Randy Kester, he said Ruby was probably expecting this divorce, but he said that the reason for the problems in the marriage was Jody. She was the one recommending to almost a majority of her clients that in order to repair their

families and repair their marriages, they needed to be separated. They needed to live apart because in her view, Kevin had Kevin that was lustful and Kevin was greedy and Kevin was self-absorbed. None of what was true. Through her therapeutic manipulation, she convinced him that he's characteristics and that if he stayed at home, he was going to poison the family. It's a little bit different than what we, our prior conversation, because my understanding was it was Ruby's decision that Kevin lived separately. Now it sounds like it was Jody's decision or is it Ruby through Jody, just so I understand. It was, it was Ruby through Jody because Because Jody was giving Ruby advice also that was not helpful.

Yeah, again, so Ruby putting blame on Jody is consistent with Randy's account there. But in this statement, and it was kind of subtle, Ruby is going to be helping to make sure that Kevin seems to me gets custody of the kids, right? If that's the case, the way I read it, maybe she is going to spend some time behind bars for a little bit and someone needs to take care of these kids. And finally, the statement ends with, quote, Winward Law recognizes the profound love that Ms. Frankie holds for her children, and we are genuinely saddened that she found herself on this challenging path under the influence of Ms. Hildebrand. It is our firm belief that Ms. Frankie is a devoted mother,

who unfortunately was led astray. She is sincere in her commitment to securing the best possible future for her family, and we remain hopeful that with the right support and understanding, she can navigate a path of healing and growth. again putting all the blame on Hildebrand, accepting responsibility. I will say it is interesting that there is not a downright clear confession, a clear acknowledgement of what she did, right? Not a confession to abusing her children. And there's a reason for that, because as we know, plea deals, they can always blow up the last minute. So her attorney has to be careful

about public statements made before an actual plea deal is entered and accepted by the court. It has to be accepted by the court. Let's not forget that. But what this does do for Jody is interesting. I mentioned how Ruby has this hearing Monday, but Jody has her waiver hearing scheduled for December 27th. Prosecutors asked for two separate hearings. Is she going to try to take a deal? Has she tried?

Will prosecutors not accept a deal? Do they want to go for a full prosecution against Jody Hill? the brand again then you'd have the kids testifying so that makes it difficult but uh is she the one that they really want to get after all there have been allegations against jody that she ruined families lives based on her teachings and advice if she is the top of this criminal master if she's the criminal mastermind then maybe they want to ultimately prosecute her and with ruby's testimony that would definitely change the game but like i said ruby's hearing is scheduled for this monday in st george's fifth district court we will definitely

follow what happens in this case. All right, everybody, that is all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, on this bonus episode of Sidebar. We very much appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. Let's speak to you next time.

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