Law&Crime Sidebar - The Rise and Fall of YouTube Mom Ruby Franke — The Story So Far

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

The YouTube channel “8 Passengers” was once a powerhouse in the family content space on the platform, boasting millions of views each month with over two million subscribers. Ruby Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, launched the channel in 2015 with a major focus on their six children and parenting skills in their vlog-style videos. The channel’s success came crashing down when YouTube terminated the account just days after Ruby Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped from her business partner’s home “covered in wounds” after he was allegedly tied up using duct tape and starved to the point of emaciation. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down the timeline of Ruby Franke’s rise and fall on the YouTube platform.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&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.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller

that will 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. Honestly, my biggest fear ever since I started vlogging was, but what if I wake up and my children are just staring at a way? wall all day and there's nothing to film. That is legitimately my biggest fear. A woman who rose to fame on YouTube with her videos on parenting, child care, and marriage is charged with six counts of felony child abuse. But how did we get here? What led to a young boy climbing out of a window and rushing to a neighbor for help? We're digging into the Ruby

Frankie case and her timeline from mom to vlogger. to criminal defendant. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Well, her name is everywhere right now. Ruby Frankie. And even if you've never seen any of her videos,

you know who I'm talking about. It is all over the news. It's all over social media. We here at Sidebar, we have been heavily focused in trying to delve into this highly disturbing case as well. Now, Frankie is, of course,

the 41-year-old YouTuber mom, who is now charged alongside her business partner, Jody Hildebrand, with six counts of aggravated child abuse with respect to two of her young children. I'm talking about a case where police discovered Frankie's emaciated children, her 10-year-old daughter, her 12-year-old son, they were found in Hildebrand's residence, and in fact, the boy had suffered deep lacerations. There was even evidence that he had been tied up. We're going to get to all that. but we should actually start from the beginning in order to understand how we got here. So this is a full timeline of what we know so far in the Ruby Frankie case.

Let's start with the family. So Ruby Griffiths met Kevin Frankie. They got married and they had their first child back in 2003. Kevin had graduated from Utah State University for undergrad and then got his graduate degree from Brigham Young University in civil engineering. He went on to teach engineering at BYU as an associate professor. Kevin and Ruby are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They end up having six children together, Shari, Chad, Abbey, Julie, Russell, and Eve.

The family lived in Ivan's Utah. It's about four hours away from Salt Lake City. But then you fast forward to 2015. And Ruby and Kevin started a channel on. YouTube called eight passengers and the videos were all about their family and parenting and marriage and homeschooling I've never never once forgotten to vlog like it's like forgetting to eat or forgetting to breathe for me like picking up the camera and vlogging it's like I would never forget to do that their channel

became so popular, it eventually boasted more than 2 million subscribers. I just felt this, the spirit tell me, everything's going to work out okay. And then I had the thought, you need to share this too on your video. You need to let your viewers know that everything's going to be okay for them, too. All right, we want to thank Morgan and Morgan, the largest injury law firm in America, for sponsoring this video. Now, I know what you're thinking, right? lawyers endless hours of confusing paperwork not with morgan and morgan folks nope they have

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or by dialing pound law. That's pound 529 on your phone. Some of the channel's videos just showed the day-to-day life of the family from after-school sports. How many of you have to play tennis? To cooking. This is because if I decide I wanted a roast

at the last minute, pork is really quick and easy. It does not take all day. it takes like about 30 minutes. To haircuts. It's stuck. Is there anything wrong with the back of my hair? Wrong? Yeah.

It's horrible. But did not come without its share of criticism and controversy. You see, Frankie's videos also addressed some sensitive and darker topics. One thing that I think is very, very, very. harmful is inappropriate memes. There are some hilarious memes out there, but there are also some memes that are just downright nasty. And I think it's important that we know what our kids are looking at on their Instagram feeds. However, it was her parenting style that really became problematic for many. It was a level of discipline that concerned viewers. For example, in one video,

Frankie admits that her youngest daughter, then six-year-old Eve, forgot to pack a lunch for school. I know that her teacher is uncomfortable with her being hungry and not having a lunch, and it would ease her discomfort if I came to the school with a lunch. But I responded and just said, Eve is responsible for making her lunches in the morning, and she actually told me she did pack a lunch. So the natural outcome is she's just going to need to be hungry. Six years old. In another video, Frankie said, quote,

my kids are literally starving. I hesitate to say this because it's going to sound like a mean barbarian, but I told the kids, I'm not even going to let you eat breakfast until you get your chores done, which is all so chilling considering the allegations of starving her children. But the discipline would also consist of other acts too, like her and Kevin, not giving their two youngest children, gifts on Christmas one year because they said they were selfish. Now, the Eight Passengers Channel, it was removed by YouTube, we believe, earlier this year.

Reporting indicates that the family had also been posting less content over time. We don't know exactly why all this happened. It could be connected to the criticism of some about the punishments that this family doled out to the kids and talked about in their videos. Multiple accounts online have posted videos of the past few years pointing out these concerning moments that were all caught on camera. What do you do when you're disciplining your kids and they make you laugh? It's frustrating.

All of my kids have done it. Chad does it too. I do not because I never get disciplined. And Ruby Frankie herself would respond to that criticism. Online who hate me, who would like to cancel me, who would like to see me either burn in hell, as I have told, or disappear off the face of the earth. And I'm not going anywhere. Yeah, Frankie said in an interview with CWIC media last year, quote,

I was slapped upside the face with shock that people didn't like responsibility. I went overnight nearly from being this loved YouTube mom to being called a neglectful abusive mom. I was shocked. Well, now Frankie is in a Utah jail cell. accused of abusing her children alongside her business partner Jody Hildebrand. And that's the moment I want to take right now. I want to take a moment to talk a little bit more about Jody's backstory.

So according to the Utah Division of Professional Licensing, Jody Hildebrand is a clinical mental health counselor. She started her own YouTube channel known as Connections. So many of us that are parents, it's like, I don't want to have to track them down. I don't want to have to just, you know, like take everything away from them. like you're not taking things away from them what you're doing is you've handed them things that they're not managing and so it's your job to make sure that the first thing they manage is themselves like they understand how to manage themselves they know how to be responsible for themselves they know

how to not blame they know how to get curious which means humble they know how to ask questions they know how to say that doesn't feel right can you help me understand they know how to do all that and when you give them activities or you give them opportunities that they engage in where they can't manage themselves they're only going to become more and more unmanageable inside of these activities and at some point ruby frankie joined connections we also believe that kevin might have been in some of those videos in fact the website lists ruby frankie as a certified mental fitness trainer and frankie as i said appeared alongside hildebrand in these videos i have been full time you wonder

where i've been on my vlogs you wonder why i left youtube to save my kids no amount of money i and i'm telling you i was making millions and i left it because my kids were being hurt with entitlement they were being hurt with people's advice and they didn't have a mother up the front saying I don't care what the world's opinion is this is the truth and this is where I stand okay but now fast forward to last month when according to court documents and a 911 phone call Frankie's 12 year old son RF who we know to be Russell climbed out of a window at the home of Hildebrand he ran to a neighbor and asked him to call the police I'm on the address of your emergency.

Tell me exactly what's happened. I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help. We know there's been problems at this neighbor's house. He's emaciated. He's got tape around his legs. He's hungry and he's thirsty. And he asked us to call the police. So he's very afraid.

This kid has obviously been... I think he's been... he's been detained he's been he's obviously covered in wounds we need the cops as soon as possible yeah it appeared that Russell had been bound with duct tape

that he was severely malnourished he was asking for food and water first responders they come they find his sister EF who we know to be Eve 10 years old inside of the home in a very similar state both were taken to a hospital Ruby Frankie Jody Hildebrandt

they were both arrested Now, I also want to tell you that police noted, as well, that Ruby Frankie was seen on a YouTube video filmed in Jody Hildebrand's house. It was posted two days before the kids were discovered, and the police said, quote, this observation points to Frankie being in the home and having knowledge of the abuse. That's why each is charged with either inflicting the injuries themselves on these kids or causing or permitting another to inflict the injuries. So it's going to be hard to argue that Ruby Frankie didn't know. what was happening or didn't endorse it. And prosecutors are going to have quite the latitude to argue in front of a jury that these injuries constitute child abuse because under the various charges, it is abuse if the

injuries result in a form of torture or malnourishment, even severe emotional harm. These are serious crimes. In fact, the maximum is 15 years in prison on each respective charge. Let's go back to the early warning signs. of trouble. Well, back in 2020, child protective services went to the Frankie home to investigate claims of abuse thanks to a change.org petition. This again seemed to be brought on by the viewers of her channel and people who were concerned with what they were seeing. But here's what may have prompted that. So then 15-year-old Chad, the Frankie's oldest son, was sent from Utah

to a camp in Arizona called Anasazi. It is a weeks-long wilderness camp for troubled teens. And when he got back, he played apparently some pranks on his younger brother Russell, whom he shared a bedroom with, and take a listen to what Chad and Ruby Frankie, his mom, had to say in a video that she posted and eventually it was taken down. In our house, when we take something away, it's because they have shown that they are not responsible enough to manage it. And so we don't just turn around and give it back as soon as they start acting good. It has to be consistent. It has to be consistent over a minimum, minimum of six months. My bedroom was taken away for seven months and then you give it back like a couple weeks ago. I don't think our viewers know that.

I was sleeping on a beanbag. I was sleeping on a beanbag since October. My room back like two weeks ago. Oh, I'll give you the reason why I lost my bedroom. I think so. I think this is the reason. At least this is the reason that's been in my head. It's pretty funny, but now I look back again, it was pretty depressing.

No, we never told you. told our viewers. That I woke Russell up at 2 in the morning and told him that we're going to Disneyland and he has to pack. And you got up and made his bed all neatly and then packed all his clothes in a suitcase. And then he walked out the door and I'm like, Russell. He's like, why? And he's all happy.

I had the sunglasses on. And I was like, we're not going to Disneyland. He's just crying and kidding. And then he went back to bed and tears. And then... So that was not the reason you lost your room, but that wasn't the reason. other reasons because I pointed a BB gun at his face. Pointed to BB gun at his face and hung him on the basketball.

Not funny. Basically, Chad... Oh, like the day I got home to. Chad came home from Anastasi and... Russell was like, I want to try junking the basketball. And he was... And he was... And left him there.

We saw three minutes, and he was just hanging on there. Do you think it's funny because... And then I walked out. If you think it's funny, then you... That was seven months ago. Maybe you need longer without a bedroom. It was not funny. Chad showed that he was not able to manage himself sharing a bedroom with Russell.

So when we moved, the bigger room in the basement was automatically his, and I didn't have a room, but we, like, put one on hold for me. So a lot of you are like, hey, that's not fair because Chad got the bigger, the lesser bedroom and Russell got the bigger bedroom. Russell got the big bedroom and Chad got the smaller bedroom. And Russell's bigger bedroom also had a bathroom. But what you guys didn't know was, Chad didn't get any room. He didn't get anything. He was sleeping on the floor in the family room. It hurts me just as much as it hurts my kids.

Both Chad and his sister reveal that they don't have. have any friends since they moved to a new home, nearly an hour away from their school. I don't feel safe or accepted in any friend group. And in the same video, Ruby talked about going away with her husband Kevin to a retreat. And while they're gone, the kids were only supposed to use their iPads for schoolwork. But Ruby learned that the youngest children had broken the rules. So because of that, Ruby apparently took away all the electronics from everyone for the rest of that summer. After she spoke with Chad and Abby about her views on punishment, she then brings

Russell into the frame. And I just want you to watch his face as she's talking, because for me, it seems pretty evident how uncomfortable he is, because he's not only dealing with the fact that he's being disciplined, but this conversation is being recorded. Okay, you guys, I need to go have a talk with Russell. The fact that he's not willing to sit with me and be humble and talk is a A big is a big demonstration to me that he has some distorted views and that he is in a lot of shame. Oh, there you are. I was just talking about you. Do you want to come sit with me and talk? I'm going to get down on your level. I've noticed that you've been hiding from me and you are feeling a lot of embarrassment and shame.

I don't know. You tell me what you're feeling. Mad. Because I really won't get anything for summer. I won't be able to go anywhere. No, I don't have any friends, no iPads, no TV, nothing. Okay, so I hear you. That sounds like a lot to be taken away. That sounds like it's going to be a miserable summer.

Can I tell you what I see? Would you be open to hearing what I have to say? what I have to say. I see that, yes, the iPads will be taken because you weren't responsible, you were lying, and being manipulative with them. And Eve did start it. And Eve may have started it. That's very possible. And who's responsible for you being disobedient around the iPads? Me. You. So it's up to you. If you want to be miserable because you don't get TV, Or iPad, that is totally up to you. You get to choose boredom and you get to choose to be miserable.

What I am seeing, though, is that you're upset with the outcome for being mischievous. And instead of being humble and accepting that there is an outcome for you behaving like that with the iPads, instead you're being selfish. And what I would like to see is that you be humble and say, yeah, you know, I own it. I was mischievous with the iPads. I was sneaking them. I can see where I've broken trust. And I don't want our relationship to be an untrusting relationship. And once again, Frankie defends her actions. You're listening to all of your comments and your feedback. I think I understand where some people are coming from.

They're 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 abuse 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. Now, it was videos like these that led. viewers to be concerned. I mentioned this change.org petition that was set up. It received a lot of signatures. Well, then CPS, Child Protective Services, is called to visit the home. And social workers come to the Frankie home. They look around. They interview all the children. But the case was closed because there was not enough evidence, wrongdoing, or crime being committed, or abuse. Ruby Frankie explained in an interview with the rap, saying, quote, I remember that morning very well. These officers, they were too late.

said there had been several complaints about child abuse and child neglect. Could they come in and spend some time? She goes on to say that they didn't find anything. And before leaving, according to her, these workers were supposedly so impressed with her and Kevin's parenting that Frankie said, quote, they both said they were going to go home and make some changes on how they were parenting. In fact, according to Kevin Frankie, when they walked in unannounced, Eve and Ruby were baking bread together and doing a puzzle.

He went on to say that it was hardly the evidence. of an abusive home. But then in another incident, April 2022, a social worker from the Department of Child of Family Services, DCFS, contacted police saying that two children were running unsupervised by the family home. But when a police officer arrives, the kids weren't there. We also know that back on September 18th, 2022, the couple's daughter, Shari Frankie, called police. You see, Shari basically cut ties with her family after Ruby started working with Jodya Connections, and she herself was attending Brigham Young at the time. But Sherry reported that her siblings had been left home alone for days, and she wanted

to make sure that they had enough food. So police show up. The kids reportedly wouldn't answer the door, but police could see them inside. The police speak with the neighbors. In fact, according to an officer in a report, quote, everyone who came to the scene was very concerned about the children and then being left at home alone, expressed great concern about the two youngest children being homeschooled, while the two older ones go to public school, mostly because it shows that they are home alone during the day by themselves, and there isn't

any way for them to contact emergency services if needed. Reporting indicates that law enforcement stopped by the house four more times between September 22nd, October 3rd, but it doesn't seem anything came from it. It's not clear if DCFS was involved in this and all. But when Frankie and Hilda Brent were arrested, Sherry posted on her Instagram story, a photo of the police with the caption, finally. A neighbor spoke to NBC News saying, quote, I'm really angry because I spoke up, other people spoke up.

If people knew the amount of tears and time spent talking with law enforcement and CPS over the last year, I want people to understand that. And I want those kids to know that because I think they thought that they were abandoned. Well, now, it seems that there is plenty of evidence that points to abuse behind the scenes of these popular videos. the children are now in the care of child protective services, as Ruby Frankie and Jody Hildebrand

await a bail hearing later this month. And in a bizarre twist at Frankie's most recent court hearing, she claimed that one of her children molested 20 other children, including a sibling, cousins, neighbors. The judge apparently said that the child would need to be placed in a home with no other children. Now, interestingly, we interviewed Ben Chu, famously represented Johnny Depp in his civil abuse case. And here was his take on how that statement could hurt Ruby Frankie. I think it's tremendously detrimental to her case. First of all, I mean, she should have, if any of this were true, she should have reported it at the time rather than waiting to be arrested in a rain. As for Kevin Frankie, who has not been criminally charged,

according to his attorney, Kevin is distraught that he denies any knowledge of abuse and that he has been living separately from Ruby for the last 13 months. I actually had the opportunity to interview Kevin's attorney, Randy Kester, who not only indicated that Ruby called Kevin before she was arrested, asking him to come take care of the kids, but that he is the victim. He's working hard to do what he can to restore his reputation after it's been destroyed and damaged and he's getting raked over the calls by all this when, in fact, he himself, was to some degree a victim of these psychological and mental manipulations that were

perpetrated against him and his family by Jody. He's just trying to restore some normalcy in his life and make sure that he can as was his goal all along to keep this family together and make sure that they thrive and that they recover from this abuse. Now, I am sure there is more to this story. will develop. We'll, of course, continue to follow all this for you and bring you every new detail. That's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber.

I'll speak to you next time. series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.