Prime Crime: Solved Murders - The YouTube Mom From Hell: Ruby Franke

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

From a popular YouTube family vlogger to a convicted child abuser, the shocking story of Ruby Franke has captivated the nation. From influencer to inmate, the YouTube mom has hit rock bottom behind bars alongside her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. This episode of “Prime Crime with Jesse Weber” Follow Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweber Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lcprimecrime 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: https://www.forthepeople.com/PrimeCrime Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On prime crime. I just had a 12-year-old boy still up here at my front door asking for help. We need the cops here as soon as possible. It's the 911 call heard around the world, casting the spotlight on a popular YouTuber. If you're in a position of power and you turn your power and give it over to the kids, that is control. And her partner in crime. Hi, I'm Jody Hildebrand. I am at the second annual women's... Yama Vah Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars.

Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com. Only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Treat. I'm as shocked as anybody. Her and Ruby were just the two wrong things to come together.

In a story that has layers... She can stay right here on the porch so you can steer. What are you afraid of, sir? Upon layers. Jody is very smart in how she approaches her therapeutic modalities. It's like a frog being boiled in water. You know, you start off with the cold water and slowly turn up the temperature. Hey there, everybody, I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to Prime Crime.

crime. This is where we break down the most compelling true crime cases in America. Our next story takes us all the way out west, but this is a case that had the entire nation buzzing when it broke in late summer, 2023. And it all began with one chilling 911 phone call. I just had a 12-year-old boy still up here at my front door asking for help. August 30th, 2023, Ivan's Utah. What you're hearing is not. not your typical 911 phone call, but this isn't your typical case. And it all begins with one woman. Worshiping your child will be placing your child's desires over responsibility.

This is Ruby Frankie. I am kind of a crazy mom in that I love my kids to wear red, white, and blue. They have been wearing red, white, and blue every year since they were wearing clothes. Ruby Frankie was a YouTuber and had millions of followers for her eight passengers channel. That's where Ruby's claim to fame really came from. I think the kids are more excited about the presents. The siblings are getting that once they're getting. Eight passengers was started several years ago by both Ruby Frankie and her husband, Kevin.

You guys, we are in Florida. And the kids had no idea. They have six children together, and it was kind of that initial mommy blog, YouTube channel, where Ruby would basically invite people into her life with her husband and her children. You guys are going to watch each other. I made dinner, but you have to eat dinner. Okay, Lou. Got it? No.

I was going to say hanky-panky. But that's not right, I'm pretty sure. No silly business. That's better. She focused her family as the main driving source of content for her platform. What is this? It's gonna be okay and the size is the color of the baby.

So we're gonna find out if it's pink, plus it's blue. A lot of the kids, you almost saw grow up in that YouTube channel. Do you want to start dating? Like, I don't know if I've ever asked you that. I just assumed that you didn't. I wouldn't care if I started dating, but I'm 13 and I feel like I'm too young.

You know that you can always come talk to me, right? You ever want to? Good talk. Eight passengers was the wild ride of the Frankie family with over two million subscribers over the years. Most likely by parents who were looking at this, looking at the tactics used, looking to them for advice,

as so many do on social media, But you yelled at me. The fact that I yell at my kids is a secret. We don't want our viewers to know. However, these videos started to take a dark turn. Eve did not pack a lunch today and can I bring a lunch over to the school? I know that her teacher is uncomfortable with her being hungry and not having a lunch. I responded and just said,

Eve is responsible for making her lunches in the morning. So the natural outcome is she's just going to need to be hungry. People were upset about whatever was happening on this channel, parenting tactics or how the children were being treated. You have to vote. Listen, if you do not vote for what fun you want, we will ensure you, you will have no fun at all. There were people who were concerned about the things that she was doing to punish her children. She had her son who left his socks outside, made him do push-ups. Put him in your pocket so you can take him down to the hamper and drop and give me 10. Put your hands straight out. They're in. They're not supposed to be out.

Shape your hands forward. There you go. There was another situation where her oldest son ended up losing his bed for several 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've been on a bean back since October. Chad came home from Anasazi and... Russell was like, I want to try junking the basketball. And I was done up on the room.

And he was... And left him there. Rangel three minutes. And he was just hanging on there. Do you think it's funny? Because... And then I walk out. If you think it's funny, then you...

That was seven months ago. Maybe you need longer without a bedroom. It... It was not funny. There were a lot of people who were really put off by the... really put off by that. And that led to them criticizing her online. When looking at the change.org platform,

there are a couple of petitions pertaining to Ruby Frankie and eight passengers. There's one from 2020 that actually says, get eight passengers, Ruby Frankie under investigation for child abuse. There's also another one that still has almost 18,000 signatures. There were obvious concerns.

Eve, this is This is my tape. What are you doing? What are you doing to this poor baby? Should I tape your eyes to make you sleep? The biggest thing was seeing all the kids get hurt on the YouTube channels. When I saw sweat fingers and bloody noses, the things that I saw were off camera. They were all the stuff at parties.

They were just patterns of behavior saying things like, oh, my kids won't go to bed. I just give them highland all PM. Highlandall PMs. One conversation with Ruby was over dinner and me and her argued the whole time about parenting for like a half an hour. For me, there was red flags throughout all of that. We do know over the years there were a number of calls to Ruby's home in Springville for a variety of things. Some were welfare checks just checking on their family because the kids were left alone according to one of the narratives. Hi, my name is Sherry Frankie. My four younger siblings are living in Springville, and my neighbors have been telling me that they have been left home alone for about four or five

days. The CPS visits didn't amount to much. A lot of those are private record. We're not able to get those records. What we did see is Springville police assisting. There's no details of how they proceeded, but clearly they didn't proceed in a certain direction. In 2022, Ruby Frankie stops posting on the A Passenger's channel. There's a new person in Frankie's life, and they're taking up a lot of her time. Hi, I'm Jody Hildebrand. I am at the second annual women's retreat in St. George, Utah.

Jody Hilda Brand was a licensed clinical mental health counselor in the state of Utah. Ruby was working for Jody at Connections. Hi, we are live in Mapleton, Utah, And we have Ruby here. And Ruby is a part of the original 10 women that are being trained to become mental fitness trainers. Connections is essentially a life coaching group

or offering from Jody Hildebrand. She was the founder of Connections classroom. But she had two other people that worked for her in Connections. One woman is named Pam Botcher, the president of the Connections Foundation, which was actually listed as a non-connections. The other was Ruby Frankie, who was listed as a certified mental fitness trainer. A man or a woman can be being abusive, and they still will have their children given to them,

which is horrible. This little boy that you have depends on you, mom. And I'm hoping that you will be a lioness to protect him. Connections offered one-on-one coaching sessions with Jody or couples classes or specific classes for women and specific classes for men as it pertain to perhaps strengthening your relationship or getting the most out of your life. There are all these different behaviors that kids and adults go into to distract themselves from the fear that they don't matter. But Jody Hildebrand isn't without her own controversies. She was actually put on probation back in January of 2000.

for some of the things that she did ethically as it pertained to an individual that she was counseling. His name was Adam Steed. Adam actually saw Jody back in 2008, and it came out that Jody shared a lot of his personal client privilege information with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and also members of a local institution, Brigab Young University, where Adam was working at the time. I was just so messed up emotionally and mentally after Jody Hildebrand that I was scared of my own name. You know, when you're a victim of child abuse and your therapist Jody Hilderbrand tells you the PTSD and the trauma from that is just your sexual addiction,

and then she throws you into a class, and then the other three guys start talking about being a voyeurist with victims, being an exhibitionist with victims, being an incest person with victims. It was extremely uncomfortable. We have spent 24 hours between the two days talking about how to recognize distortion and move it into truth. We have cried and we have laughed and we have applauded and we have invited people into boundaries.

They're very interested in coming back, bringing their spouses. She wouldn't let me leave therapy. She contacted other therapists and told them terrible things about me so that I couldn't get help elsewhere. She was just punished. punishing me and trying to control my life when I started to ask certain questions.

She just changed everything and went on a complete assassination. Connections is unique. It's an anomaly in the world. People don't understand that they could actually heal their pain. And if you have not joined the Connections family, I would encourage you strongly. She brought everybody. And now she was saying I was mentally unhealthy and I couldn't choose for myself. I lost my children a huge amount of their lives because of this. Adam Steed is not the only person who comes forward about Jody Hildebrand.

She strips you of identity. She strips you of credibility and she isolates. And so she is saying everything that you say is a lie. Everything that you say is manipulation. You're lying and destroying everyone's life. So for the sake of everyone else's safety, we're duct taping you. This is Jesse Hildebrand, Jody's niece. who alleges physical, emotional, and mental abuse they suffered under the care of their aunt when they were younger. I was sleeping outside in the snow, in the middle of winter, in Utah.

I wasn't allowed to have a bed. She told everyone that it was like a mummy bag, you know, sub-zero type of sleeping bag. No, it was absolutely not. Her justification to the police was that she was preparing me for outdoor wilderness therapy. We talked about sexuality relationships in truth rather than distortion. And so these women gave some amazing points of the sacredness of sexuality and the utmost importance in order to be able to be in a centered, connected relationship. Jody kind of prescribes herself as being this person who's very much into honesty and her whole brand is kind of owning up to who you are and what you've done.

She tends to be, I think, a bit more strict than what most counselors would be. And really probably at the end of the day, her and Ruby were just the two wrong things to come together. When we return, Ruby Frankie and Jody Hildebrand are thrust into the national spotlight. A 12-year-old male showed up with tapered leg, Thursday asking for help,

said he was afraid asking for police. The email does have duct tape around each ankle. He's not telling the RP. And so there's soars around his wrist and ankles. The RP is becoming emotional regarding the child's health. Hey, so we're going to get back to the Ruby Frankie case here on Prime Crime in just a minute. But before we do, we are talking a lot of law on this episode. And it got me thinking about our great partner and sponsor Morgan and Morgan.

Why do I want to talk about them? Because the truth is, not all law firms are the same. Not all are created equal. And Morgan and Morgan, the largest personal individual. law firm in the entire country, you know why they're so big, you know why they're so unique, because they win a lot. In the past couple of months, Morgan and Morgan saw verdicts of $12 million in Florida, $6.8 million in New York, and $26 million in Philadelphia. Mind you, these are considerably higher than the highest insurance offers for these accidents. If you're going to be

dealing with big insurance companies, you need a big firm. But you know what else makes them so special? They have completely modernized the process for their clients, from submitting your claim to signing contracts to uploading documents to talking to your whole legal team, this can all be done on your smartphone. And by the way, the fee, absolutely free unless you win. Yeah, you can get started with your claim and just a single click on your phone and seeing if you have a case only takes a few minutes. So if you're injured, you can submit a claim at for the people.com slash prime crime or by dialing pound law. That's pound 529 on your phone. All right. Let's get back now to Ruby Frankie. It's going to sound like I'm like a mean barbarian, but I told the kids,

I said, I'm not even going to let you eat breakfast until you get your chores done. We're in Utah, where mom of six, Ruby Frankie, who spent years documenting the lives of her children and husband Kevin on the once popular YouTube channel 8 passengers, has stopped posting videos on the page, this after receiving backlash over her disciplinary and parenting style. line who hate me, who would like to cancel me, who would like to see me either burn in hell, as I've told, or disappear off the face of the earth. And I'm not going anywhere. Frankie partners up with Jody Hildebrand, a mental health counselor who runs a life coaching business known as connections. So Ruby, you want to tell us about what a mental fitness trainer is?

Yes. So we are getting mentally fit. are getting ready to be your mental fitness trainer. We're getting truth, really easy to teach and help you, and you're going to feel so much better. Absolutely. But Hilda Brandt herself has come under fire for her alleged manipulative and physical abuse techniques. She didn't want me to leave her therapy group. I couldn't go to any other therapists. I was trying to go to other therapist because they were saying I was an addict in denial and you know it was just crazy when I tried to get away she changed everything and went after me in the most

bizarre way I've ever seen and then ruined my whole life Jody is very smart and 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 it'd be like absolutely not she's very very subtle and she's very calculated. It's like a frog being boiled in water. You know, you start off with the cold water and slowly turn up the temperature. The only way you can actually have a fulfilling, and I don't mean physiologically fulfilling, I'm talking about a spiritual, fulfilling sexual relationship. It starts with self and then

it moves into your partner. But this partnership between Frankie and Hildebrandt has devastating consequences. I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help. The Santa Clara Ivan's public safety area basically got a phone call. And officers were alerted of a situation at a home in Ivan's Utah, the home of Jody Hildebrand. That is where two of Ruby Franke's younger children were at. At the time, nine and 12, one of them was able to leave and run to a neighbor's house. We know there's a 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. By listening to that 911 call, which still haunts me to this day as a father of a two-year-old myself, the neighbor, an older gentleman, extremely compassionate in this situation and can't believe what has just stumbled upon his doorstep. This kid has obviously been... I think he's been detained. He's obviously covered in wounds.

We need the cops here as soon as possible. The 911 call is heartbreaking. The 12-year-old son ends up getting out of a window in their basement and make his way to the neighbor's house. He's asking for a drink and food. The neighbor, he sees ligature marks. He sees what he describes as the macea. and malnourished. Based on what was found on his wrists and his ankles,

this child was tied up for quite some time. Russell was the one they found first. There was bruising and blistering because of some of the tactics that were used with the cayenne pepper and the honey to put in the wounds and then plastered back over with some of the wrap. It was less described about Eve than it was Russell. Both Russell and his sister Eve are taking

into the hospital for malnourishment and injuries. But there's another pressing issue. Where are Ruby's other minor children? Officers from a number of agencies in Utah County, Springville Police, Utah County Major Crimes Task Force, they went to Ruby Frankie's home in Springville because they wanted to locate the two outstanding children that were under the age of 18. So when officers get to the house, they try to obviously knock on the door, and then they kick the door down, they basically blow right through the door and they clear the house. They realize the children are not there. And then around noon or so, we start to hear that Ruby Frankie called her friend, who is Jody's longtime friend, Pam Botcher. I'm looking for Pam. Is Pam insid?

Yeah, it's my wife. Is your wife she's here? Hi. Oh, Pam, how are you doing? Yeah. Pam Botcher is the third member of Connections classroom. The two girls were found at Pam Batcher's home. They were unharmed. You have a warrant? Yeah, we do. We just tell them you're all right. Well, you have to physically see her. S-a-a-cunded that doorway. What's interesting about all of this, when they reached the front door and they asked to speak with Pam Botcher, both her and her husband are stunned. They don't understand what is going on. We'll go ahead and get the copy of the warrant for you, okay?

They have a warm from my house. Specifically for you. Yeah, for you and a child. Yeah. Okay. So. What is going on? They asked Pam to come with them. They do place her into custody in a detainment form by actually putting cuffs on her and putting her in one of the patrol cars.

They talked to Pam about what she knows about Ruby, what the two girls were doing there, how she had the two girls initially. Is Ruby Frankie's daughter? She's a friend of ours. I didn't make her scrub the floor and they vacuumed and stuff because I have company coming tonight out of from, from, Costa Rica. Okay. So, but she did it of her own free will. Pam says about five to ten to twenty times in this conversation of the body camera, they were just doing some cleaning for me.

We ate some ice cream. That's all it is. So just to make sure I'm understanding all this, really Ruby content you around noon. Said she had a family emergency. I need you to pick up the girls. Yeah, she said, we do my watching the girls while I'm gone because she was leaving. I said, yeah, I could do that because I ate some help clean.

I just went to the pool. and said, hey, they have a family emergency. Can I pick up? Sure. Your mom said, you could come help me playing today. She said, okay. And what about that? Moody just told me she'd be at the ace hard work.

So in Pam's defense, she was extremely confused because I don't think the officer had all the facts because they were getting this from another agency and then finally things started coming together. As we sit here and talk today, Pam has not been. in charge with anything. She's not involved in any of this. However, I am curious to know if they questioned her about any of the things that went on with Ruby and Jody throughout the entire court proceeding. Is it possible I could talk to you by my car, a little out of a bit of a bit so we can

just talk. She can go in and lock the door. Go in and lock the door. If this officer goes with you, her, sure. No. No? When police do end up finding the children at Pam's house, it's just a conversation that they have with Pam. They talked to Pam's husband, who is very standoffish, obstinate in a way. She can stay right here on the porch so you can see her. Uh-huh, absolutely. What are you afraid of, sir? I'm, I don't know what's going on. So that's what I'm going to bring you on, but I want to say- I'm answering your question. Okay. Number one, I don't know what's going on. Number two, I don't want Springville to drive up and you guys whisk her away. Number three, her mom is a

here right now and I feel like I'm kind of trying to protect her from getting into that situation. And it's not just botcher's husband who seems resistant. Do you need medical attention though? Okay. Is there a reason you're so scared right now? It's us. Okay. My intention is not to scare you. Are you okay? Or is there something that I can do to make you not feel as scared right now? Or would you rather not talk? The children don't really want to engage with police. Their standoffish?

Girls have been malignolity where just sitting on before they're having where they said a word to us. They whisper stuff to each other. Yeah. Older's just sort of saying that it might be rough. The children are ultimately taken into state custody. state custody. Ruby Frankie and Jody Hildebrandt are arrested in charge with six counts of aggravated child abuse each with respect to Russell and Eve's injuries. You're talking about serious bodily injury and you get to the aggravated child abuse portion

of it, which is a second degree felony. That's a one to 15 year sentence, which is what these charges ended up being. Sometimes that's related to emotional abuse. Sometimes that's related to severe malnutrition, it can be a combination of them. The arrest of Frankie and Hildebrand sets off a firestorm. It really gained the interest from people around the world about how this could take place and how these two lives between Ruby Frankie and Jody Hildebrandt came together and just how messy it gets. And I think the rest of the world couldn't believe it because this is something that happens

in a movie, right? This is something that is the worst of the worst. Ruby Frankie's own family reacted to the arrest. And on Instagram, her adult daughter, Shari, posted the words, finally, and today has been a big day. Her official statement reads, me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We've been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this and so glad they finally decided to step up. The family dynamic is hard to understand. We see maybe a few social media posts from Sherry, none of the other children.

So it's hard to tell the exact standing of the relationship. They've got to be exhausted by all of this, and it's got to be frightening for them. This is only part of the story. When we return, Ruby Frankie makes a decision that upends the case, and secrets are revealed about what actually happened to the Frankie children. I think I share the same reaction that a lot of people share. I'm as shocked as anybody as you read these. Stay with us.

Hey, so we're going to get back to prime crime in just a minute. But what is the Ruby Frankie story make very clear? It's that you have to know who you're surrounding yourself with, right? Well, that is why I have to talk to you about this new sponsor of ours. Truthfinder.com. Wait to hear about this because honestly, with the stories that we cover, I really can't think of a better service that can provide actual safety for you guys. TruthFinder is one of the largest public record search services in the entire world.

And their goal is to help people like you learn the facts about the people in their lives. Here's how it works. You go on their website, truthfinder.com, and you type in a name. For instance, your new neighbor. Let's say your new neighbor is me, Jesse Weber, okay? So you type in my name, and within minutes, you get access to all these different kinds of reports that include information like phone numbers, addresses, associates, criminal convictions. You can also know what's really useful is if you type in an address, it tells you registered

sex offenders that live in the area too. And that's the point. Unless you use TruthFinder, you may never know the facts about the people around you. That is especially true if you're in the online dating world. How scary can that be, just going out with complete strangers? Now you can do some research on the person. It can never be too careful. It's just genuinely a good idea to run a background check on potential dates before meeting

them in person. And you could do that easily on truthfully. So with that, right now, you can get 50% off of confidential background reports at www. truthfinder.com slash LC Prime Crime. So you represent Ms. Frankie. I do. We'll be on the video with us. Ms. Frankie, can you hear me?

Yes. Have you received a copy of the information in this case? Yes. Utah 2020. Once popular mommy vlogger Ruby Frankie and her business associate Jody Hildebrand are arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse of two of Frankie's young children. But one lingering question remains. What about Kevin Frankie, Ruby's husband and the children's father? There's Ruby. There's our camera. Here's Kevin. Here's our other camera. This is where I pick you up and we're going on our trip. Sherry's first European vacation.

He was shocked, devastated, hurt, felt deceived, didn't know any of that was going on. He hadn't seen his kids for 12 months or more and didn't know that they were even in Ivans. Kevin very much loved his children and loved his wife and had a strong bond with all of his kids. But Ruby felt like there were differences in their marriage. And at one point, in conjunction with Jody Hildebrand,

it was sort of like we have to separate to save our marriage. You know, we'll keep working on our marriage, but for now, you have to be away. And you have to work on yourself and don't have contact with the kids. Ruby Frankie's separation from Kevin Frankie is textbook from what we've heard from other people about Jody Hildebrand.

It is very similar to what other couples have gone through. There were people that came to us. and say Jody ripped apart my marriage. Kevin was attending men's groups that were facilitated by Jody. He was being downgraded and diminished and told how bad he was and that he needed to repent. And the best way to repent was to not infect his family with his problems. And that's why you need to stay away. Despite the apparent separation, Ruby allegedly reaches out to Kevin just before she's arrested.

He was working. And she pretty much just said, this is an emergency. I need you to come get the kids. He, of course, tore down there, not knowing any of the details of all this that was going on until he got there. Following the arrest of Jody Hildebrand and Ruby Frankie, the case slows down. That is until December 2023 when it's suddenly back in the headlines. I got a note from Ruby's attorney about a week or so before they were. we're going to notice of the waiver hearing.

That is waiving the right to a preliminary hearing. In many cases, it means no trial. You can enter your plea agreement. Ruby Frankie's statement from her attorneys on that Friday before the hearing said, initially, Ms. Frankie believed that Jody Hildebrand had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrandt took advantage of this quest

and twisted it into something heinous. Ms. Hildebrand, system systematically isolated Miss Frankie from her extended family, older children, her husband, Kevin Frankie. They took the liberty to use most of that statement by pointing the finger at Jody Hildebrand. Ms. Frankie, how do you plead to count one aggravated child abuse, a second degree felony? Guilty. To count three aggravated child abuse, a second degree felony. Guilty.

To count five, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Guilty. And to count six, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children. Guilty. I think Ruby's motivation behind pleading guilty was to not put her children through this extended process, where she's fighting it and the children potentially have to get up and testify. I think she obviously very clearly wants to reconcile with her children.

So I think that there was a notion of her letting her children know that she was taking accountability for it, that she recognized what she did was wrong, and that she's going to be better going forward. This morning, Ruby Frankechre pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. The state agreed to dismiss the two other counts of child abuse. And she agrees, I'll read this one verbatim. She agrees to testify truthfully against Jody Hildebrand and in return to the Washington County Attorney's Office, agrees to remain neutral regarding future hearings before the Utah Board of Partons approval. They needed Ruby to be there to say, look, Jody was kind of the linchpin in all of this.

She knew everything that was going on, and she was advising me. This is what she told me to do. When you're talking about co-defendants in cases like this, it's not uncommon for a prosecutor to try to find one to cooperate against the other. And Ruby Frankie's plea agreement is how the world finds out exactly what happened to her two youngest children, Russell and Eve. Some of the things that kind of came out with the plea form that weren't in the initial booking statement, when you go through and you look at the injuries associated with Russell, Ruby had boots on and was involved in kicking him while he was on the ground. She admits to holding his head underwater, obviously incredibly, incredibly concerned.

The tying up and then the amaciation in the malnourishment. They talk about how the two children were forced to do physical tasks for hours, even days at a time, like carrying boxes, full books up and downstairs, working outside in the desert climate. They were denied water. They were doing so without shoes. In the summer heat, they were out in the direct sunlight for several days. They were blistering, but there was also part of the abuse about the

isolation from other people, they were basically shunned, therefore leading to both of them having severe emotional harm from being treated differently. Questions remain. What does this mean for Jody Hildebrand? And will Ruby Frankie serve any time? Obviously all of it is indeterminate. In Utah, the judge is limited in what he can do. How do you know if you are a controlling parent? If you're in a position of power and you turn your power and give it over to the kids, that is control. Utah December 2023. Once popular YouTuber Ruby Frankie has pled guilty to four counts of child abuse against two of her own children. We will be talking all about empowering your children through setting boundaries,

teaching them responsibility and helping them to heal from anxiety. Hope to see you there. But with Frankie's admission of guilt and willing, this to testify against her co-defendant mental health counselor Jody Hildebrand. Could Hildebrand fight her child abuse charges at trial? There's a possible defense of appropriate parenting. There are different situations where maybe you're acting in a way to defend yourself or you're defending another one of your children from maybe a violent sibling.

When you're talking about serious bodily injuries, it's a question of, I didn't do it intentionally. It was really more recklessly. So at that point, it's more of a defense about level of punishment. But just like Ruby Frankie, Jody Hildebrand decides not to put up a fight. Ms. Hildebrand, how do you plead to count one aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony? Guilty. And to count three, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Guilty.

To count five, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Guilty. And to count three. Count six also aggravated child abuse a second-degree felony. Guilty. Once Ruby pled guilty and she knew that Ruby was going to testify against her, her case became a lot more difficult. Because again, some of the conduct that Jody is accused of and was charged with

is the stuff that Ruby was doing to the kids. In her plea agreement, Jody Hildebrandt admits to participating in the child abuse. but she has one more disturbing detail to add. The other concerning thing about Eve is the fact that she did have to jump into the cactus. According to the plea form that Jody filled out, she made her jump into the cactus multiple times. On February 20th, 2024, the duo were officially sentenced. Frankie was up first. She committed horrible acts of child abuse.

From May to August in 2003, Ms. Frankie and her business partner, held her two children, ages 9 and 11, turning 12, in a concentration camp-like setting. Had the older of the children not had the courage to run away and ask a neighbor to call the police, heaven only knows how much longer he could have survived in that situation. For the past four years, I've chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion.

My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked, as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me. I was led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops who control hospitals that injure government agencies that brainwash, husbands who refuse to protect and children who need abused.

Kevin, my husband with more than 23 years, you were the love of my life. I'm so sorry to leave to you to finish what we both started together. To my babies, I was so disoriented that I believe dark was light and light was wrong. I don't do anything in this world for you. I'm committed to continuing my learning until all of my toxic layers are shed, and I am ready to re-enter as a contributing member of our beautiful society. The sentence will be that Ms. Frankie serve four counts for one to 15 year sentences based on her convictions for four counts of aggravated child abuse.

They will serve consecutively. And then it was Jody Hildebrand's turn. I sincerely love these children. I desire for them to heal physically and emotionally. One of the reasons I did not go to trial, is that I did not want them to emotionally relive the experience which would have been detrimental to them. My hope and prayer is that they will heal and move forward to have beautiful lives.

But not everyone was buying what Jody was selling. The fact that she was being held accountable was completely, I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with that. This is something that I have been, trying to talk about for almost 15 years and people that needed to hear didn't listen. Nothing was done. It's so obviously a manipulation tactic to save face. She knows exactly what she's doing.

You don't get accused and convicted of child torture and then suddenly are like, oh, I just really care about these children's healing. Like, that's not what happens. I almost like fell over in the courtroom when I heard Joe, Jody say that she loved those children? Jody doesn't love children. Jody's like Ted Bundy. After being caught, Ms. Hildabrandt has shown little to no remorse for her actions.

In telephone conversations that will be provided in full to the Board of Pardons and Parole, and which she knew to be recorded, she's repeatedly claimed that she is the victim and the children of the perpetrators. She has gone so far as to say that the things said in this proceeding and covered by the media today will be full of lies. Is Hilda Brand this circumstance? is tragic. It's largely, of course, of your making. By any measure, your conduct in this case was disastrous for these children. Adults are supposed to protect children. Adults with specialized training in particular are supposed to protect children. You didn't do that. In this case, you terrorized children. Like Ruby Frankie, the judge sentenced Jody Hildebrand to four consecutive sentences.

Given that these are second-degree felonies, the most they'd be looking at on the top end is 30 years. They're not going to do 30 years. There will be a matrix that's run. They don't have a criminal history, so they'll be on the bottom row. For the second-degree felony, it's 18 months. That's kind of the minimum. And then the Board of Pardons and Parole gets the opportunity to decide if they're going to get the chance at parole at that 18-month mark or if they need more time in prison. And the board will look at several different things.

Have they done any treatment? What has their overall demeanor been like while they've been in custody? What did the children want to happen here? Ruby and Jody, by my math, are looking at a minimum of 39.6 months. This is one of the worst childhood use cases we've seen. I think that a four-year minimum for Ruby's actions are entirely appropriate. I hope that Jody serves more time than that, and I hope that she isn't out of prison until everybody is completely confident that she's no longer a risk. With Hilda Brand and Frankie behind bars, the next chapter of this story begins.

Kevin Frankie has officially filed for divorce from Ruby, and at the time of this recording, is actively fighting to regain custody of his young children. Once he found out the full truth about how these children had been treated while they were in Ruby's care and some other things that have been going on behind the scenes, just thought it was the right time to do this. In terms of getting the kids back, there's a process that the court sets up in terms of helping them become rehabilitated from the trauma they've been through with Ruby and Jody. I think that's the state's objective is to work them through that, as is Kevin. Unless you've had this level of narcissistic or psychopathic abuse, I can't explain it to you. And then you have the layers of children. They don't have the biological mental facilities

to understand what's going on. And this is not going away. These children are going to deal with this potentially for the rest of their lives. It doesn't stop. This nearly killed me. Trust your instincts. Build up that muscle of intuition.

Because the things that you're feeling are true. So ask the questions. Trust yourself. So people like Jody and Frankie are not held in positions of power. And they can be your neighbors, they can be your aunts, they can be your mothers. That is the saga of YouTube mom fluencer Ruby Frankie and self-described life coach Jody Hildebrand. Hildebrand, two women who claim to be authorities on child rearing, only to end up pleading guilty to child abuse. A lot of takeaways from this one. First, just the cost for the quest of fame,

what's really going on behind the scenes of online influencers, but maybe the most important one of all, be careful who you get advice from. That's all we have for you here on Prime Crime, Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. Until next time, stay safe.