Law&Crime Sidebar - 'Victim of Jodi': Lawyer for Ruby Franke's Husband Tells All, Blames YouTube Mom and Partner

Episode Date: September 12, 2023

The lawyer representing the husband of Ruby Franke spoke to the Law&Crime Network about his knowledge of the child abuse allegations pitted against the YouTube mom and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. Randy Kester said Kevin Franke is a “victim of Jodi,” who is the “spearhead” of this horrifying situation. Kester blamed Hildebrandt, stating “she’s caused all of the destruction” in this case. Sidebar host Jesse Weber discusses the case with Kester, who details why Kevin Franke played no role in the disturbing child abuse incidents.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.

Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. In my case, I found that as my kids got older and older and older, you know, wherever you live, there's this, there's this community, this network of parents. And I found myself constantly in comparison. with other parents. The attorney for Ruby Frankie's husband, Kevin, comes on to explain his client's current situation whether he played any role in the alleged abuse of their children, and when he spoke to Ruby Frankie right before her arrest.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Long Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. So we're continuing our coverage of the Ruby Frankie case, the 41-year-old Utah mother of six, who rose to online fame when she and her husband, Kevin. Frankie started a now defunct a YouTube channel called 8 passengers. It documented their lives, their parenting style, homeschooling.

Well, now Ruby Frankie, along with her business partner and content collaborator, Jody Hildebrand, have each been charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse. Police were alerted after Frankie's 12-year-old son escaped Hildebrand's residence,

ran to a neighbor asking for food and water. He was found emaciated with deep lacerations, tape on his extremities. This is really horrible stuff. But then it was compounded by the fact that when police arrived, they also found Frankie's 10-year-old daughter in similar condition. Horrible story. But there is one person in this story that people are talking a lot about. And that is Kevin Frankie. Now, while Ruby's husband has not been criminally charged by authorities, his role has taken center stage. It's got a lot of people talking. Well, joining me right now to unpack that

is Kevin Frankie's attorney Randy Kester. Randy, thanks so much for coming here on Sidebar. You're welcome. I think the best place to start is, how's your client doing right now? He's busy. He's struggling, trying to make sense out of what's happened to him in the last 13 months and kind of coming out of a fog. So, in other words, he was completely taken off guard by these allegations,

completely shocked? Absolutely shocked. Where was he when he found out about this? He was at work. And how did he find out? He found out on the news. Did someone call him? He got a call from Ruby.

He got a call from Ruby Frankie. Correct. You mean while she was, after she was arrested? Before. Can you elaborate on that? Sure. she had heard what was going on and knew they were coming for her and called him and said this is an emergency even though she hadn't she had reached out to him for months and months and months

before that she reached out to him when it was an emergency knowing she could rely on him to help his kids so in other words you're saying she knew the police were coming to arrest her she calls Kevin to say, take care of the kids. How did she know the police were coming? Because, again, the reporting indicates is that her son had escaped that house and called and went to a neighbor. And that's when the authorities were alerted. Do you know how she knew they were coming? I would never want to predict anything that she might know.

Kevin doesn't know. He doesn't know. I don't know. How she knew what was going down. All he knows is he got a text from her that said emergency. need to speak with you he was at work and uh text back and said i'm at work uh what's up and she said i need to speak to you immediately and then they spoke on the phone correct and that's when she told him well actually i think most of it was yeah they did speak on the phone so they spoke on the phone and

when she told him that the police were coming what did he say she she actually didn't say that she just said you need to get down here need to get down here and what did he say about that he he said down where and when she told him that she was in ivan's he responded and said what are you doing in ivans and was told she then told him that the kids were down there some of the kids were down there and he needed to come down and he said well how long have you been in ivans he did He didn't, he wasn't even told that she had taken the kids to Ivers. Let me unpack that a little bit. So, first of all, their current status, were they separated?

Correct. They were separated. I read for 13 months. So they weren't living with each other. How much was he seeing the kids? Almost not at all. Actually, not at all. Why is that?

Why is that? Because she told them it was better that they needed to work on their marriage and needed to keep their family together, but that everything was better off with him, not in the home and not communicating with the children. If you can, why were they separated? What was the catalyst? I probably shouldn't go into that. That's pretty private.

But let's just say they were, they had a difference of opinion about their family. Parenting? I know you can't talk about it, but is it? That kind of where we're going? Correct. Okay. So let me do, again. And their own personal dynamic.

Okay. So he was living separate from her. Was he calling the kids? Because I think what a lot of people are looking at this and they're wondering, well, what did he know? So he might have been living separately from her for 13 months. But he wasn't calling the kids, checking in on the kids, seeing how they're doing. He's the father. I totally understand that.

That was the big question on my mind and the big question on a lot of people. If you read everything that's in the media, he's getting raked over the coals for that. But what people don't understand is that he was trying to preserve his marriage. He was taking direction from her. She's the one who asked him to leave the house and indicating that in order for him to be able to get back together with her and be a family, that she was requesting that he leave the home and that he not contact them or the children later told him that everything was blissful at home

it was so much better without him did he ever believe that the kids were in danger did he ever believe that Ruby might have been doing something to the kids he had nothing to indicate that so again I know you're limited in what you can say but just again piecing that together if Ruby Frank told Kevin, Frankie, excuse me, Ruby Frankie told Kevin that, you know, it's better off he's not part of the home and, you know, that he lived separately from them and not to have any contact, he just took that as, okay, that sounds like a good idea, or did she prevent him in any way from seeing the kids? Did he want to see them and talk to them and she told him no?

emotionally she was controlling him because she knew how much he valued their marriage and valued their family and it was his desire to be able to get back with the family and preserve his marriage so he was taking direction from her and her direction was it's so much better off and i think we can salvage our marriage if you just for now don't have communication with the kids and I will communicate with you. I'll reach out to you when we need to have communication. And even though they had a difference of opinion, possibly about parenting, that never gave him a concern to, hey, you know what, maybe I should check in? Because if it seemed like it was a big enough issue for them to separate, it didn't seem like an issue for him to check in on.

Kevin never had any reason to believe that his children were being abused. If he had even one inkling that his kids were being abused and that this separation wasn't for any other purpose than to figure out a way between he and Ruby to reunite their family, he would have been down there in two seconds. Do they just suddenly... He had no idea. He had no idea. He had no idea that this was going on.

No, physical abuse had never been a part of their family. But a lot of the dynamics between he and his wife changed after Joe. Hildebrand partnered up with Ruby. Let's talk about that for a second. First of all, before I get into Jody, do Kevin, your client, and Ruby, do, have they been talking at all while she's in jail? The last conversation they had was last Friday. And that's when, during that conversation is when he came to, kind of came to his senses about how he'd been manipulated and deceived. Are you saying he confronted her?

about these allegations? To some degree. I don't know the entire contents of the conversation, but in his discussion with me was that during that conversation, things were said that made him realize how he'd been deceived and misled. And as I told you earlier, he didn't even know the kids were in Ivins. You had just said that he knew that he, excuse me,

that Ruby and Jody were working together. Correct. So how was he that shocked if he knew that, you know, they were working together and maybe she had brought the kids with him? I mean, did he not think that perhaps Ruby had taken the kids to Jody's house? Typically she would tell him something like that, but she didn't. She didn't. She'd had the kids down there from about late May, I think maybe June until this all came about. And she didn't tell him one thing about taking the kids to Ivan's.

What does he say about Jody Hilda Brent? That she's manipulated him in conjunction with Ruby. She's been kind of the spearhead toward essentially destroying his life and destroying his family. How did Jody and Ruby get connected? Is Kevin know? I don't know. I don't know. Is Kevin, I mean, again, is Kevin believing that perhaps it was Jody who was manipulating Ruby in this?

Or, because it also sounds like Kevin feels he was manipulated by Ruby. Is it just all the blame on Jody? I think it was a team effort, but with Jody being the spearhead and creating a situation that's just caused all of this destruction of his family. Why does he believe that Jody? is manipulative what makes him believe that probably shouldn't go into that but we recently reviewed a on another website an interview with Jody's niece who described to the public exactly what she had done what Jody had done to the niece and her family and we're hearing other information that She's done this to a number of families, and it wasn't until this all came to light that Kevin came to realize that his family had also been victimized by Jody.

Have the authorities reached out to your client? Oh, certainly. He's interviewed with them. And they see him as a potential witness? They haven't said that. He was interviewed with them the day this all occurred. He drove to St. George to get his children, and they met him and interviewed him. I guess when people are looking at this, and they know this is not an isolated incident

because you and I both know that the Frankies have been under a close eye for quite some time. There were people who suspected that the kids were being abused or were treated too harshly. So even putting aside the arrest of Ruby Frankie, your client was receiving criticism for quite some time over the parenting techniques. What is his response been to that? There hasn't ever, ever been an allegation that Kevin Frankie has ever physically abused his children. And I think all these parenting complaints, those were investigated. And I think it's a subjective thing, parenting, as everybody says, no one's ever written a perfect book on parenting. And so while there may be some criticism of their parenting as being too strict or, you know, too demanding. That's been looked into. And

there were never any DCFS charges filed. There was never any criminal charges filed. And particularly, and I want to emphasize this, Kevin Frankie has never been accused of physically abusing anyone, including his children, nor have there ever been in allegations that he was doing that. He doesn't condone that kind of thing. He's a good dad. He just simply does not condone physical violence or that kind of treatment of children or anyone. And he's right now in touch with all of the kids? That's all being sort of managed by the juvenile court. Do they want to see him?

I can't tell you. I don't know. I know that he's had contact with his two older children. but as to the four younger ones, even if I knew I kind of made an agreement with the court that we wouldn't talk about the kids. What about the older children? What has been the conversations between them and Kevin? Well, they're kind of on their own, but they've had contact, but I'm not at liberty to disclose those conversations. I mentioned the criticism that the Frankies were facing. The YouTube channel that they had, had was shut down. Did Kevin ever explain to you why that happened?

No, I have no understanding as to why that was taken down. I know, I know after these incidents on Ivan's, I believe that a lot of their material was taken down by the platform, but I haven't spoken to Kevin about that. I don't, I have no understanding as to what's going on with that right now. The money that they made off of the show, I think Ruby had claimed at one point. they were making a significant amount of money. Is Kevin ever spoken to you about that, about how profitable that show was? Kevin was simply giving his earnings to Ruby that were going to support the family.

He retained sufficient amounts of money to take care of himself while they were separated, but all the rest of that money was going to Ruby to support the kids. And he hasn't spoken to me about what amount of money was to do. ever generated by that he actually um pardon the phrase but he actually disconnected from any involvement with connections um a year and a half ago and hasn't had anything to do with eight passengers for even longer than that i'm sure you know um that there was a hearing um last week where ruby frankie and i believe it was over zoom she made quite the allegations she said that one of her was abusing another one of the children, was abusing cousins and neighbors.

That is quite the claim. What does your client's take on that? Well, because it occurred during juvenile court proceedings, the reporter who snuck into the proceedings and reported that damaged these children in this family even more. It was despicable what they did in reporting that. and but because, again, I have an agreement with the court that I'm not, I won't speak about the children and particularly won't speak about proceedings that occurred in the confines, the sanctified confines of that juvenile court. I'm not going to comment on that. Okay. And Kevin, what are his steps right now

to try to get the children back? He's consulting with professionals. He's, And we're working in conjunction with the state of Utah through the juvenile court to work with them, to take direction from them about what they feel would be necessary to heal his family and try to figure out a way, if possible, to reunify the family. Has the rest of the family, the older siblings, have they agreed that Kevin would be the best person to take care of the minor children? You know what? I can't speak to that. They've had private conversations with their dad, and I'm just not at liberty to speak about that. I don't want to disturb those private conversations between he and his kids. Does Kevin plan to attend the rest of this criminal process for Jody and Ruby, the hearings, potential trial? Well, the hearings are taking place down in Washington County, down in St. John. George, which is about a two and a half hour drive from where Kevin lives. And so most of those, he's probably not going to attend.

If they require him to attend, he'll go. But my guess is he probably isn't interested in attending those. Does he plan to cooperate, or is this a situation where he may decide to plead the fifth and protect his rights? Well, thus far, he hasn't been accused of any crimes. and in my view, I don't think he's committed any crimes. And he's had pretty much full disclosure through the juvenile court, which my understanding of that discussion,

he's simply alleged that he hasn't committed any crimes, and I don't believe they believe that he has. The police haven't contacted me. No one's contacted me about him being charged with any crimes. But the system is what it is. We don't know what's upcoming, so we're having to be circumspect about what we say and what we reveal. So, in other words, law enforcement has given no indication whatsoever that they are looking at your client as a potential criminal defendant. They've pretty much been silent, haven't said one way or the other.

So for a lot of people who are looking at your client, making assumptions about what he may or may not have done, What is the message that you want out there? Just what I keep repeating, that if you get to know, Kevin, he is an incredibly decent guy. He's been a great father. He's provided for this entire family, even during his absence. He's made sure that they had financial means to provide for whatever they needed. He's never been a violent person. He's never severely disciplined his children, and especially,

not in a physical way. And 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 coals by all of 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. All right, Randy Kester, thank you so much for taking the time. We really do appreciate it.

Well, nice to meet you guys, and thanks for letting us have an outlet to kind of get his side of the story out there. All right, everybody, that's all we have for you here on Sidebar. 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.