Family Vlogger Ruby Franke Arrested for Child Abuse!
- Ruby Franke and her podcasting partner Jodi Hilderbrand were arrested on Wednesday.
- Rumors of child abuse began to swirl in 2020 when one of Ruby’s sons said he lost his bedroom and had to sleep on a beanbag chair.
- The rumors worsened when she refused to bring her 6-year-old daughter a packed lunch at school.
Ruby Franke of the ‘8 Passengers’ YouTube channel arrested for suspicious child abuse
Ruby Franke, the momfluencer behind one of YouTube’s most famous channels is arrested and charged in Utah under suspicion of two counts of aggravated child abuse.
The vlogger remains in custody on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office website since August 30.
Not just Franke but her business partner and ConneXions co-founder, Jodi Hildebrandt was also arrested that day for the same reasons.
In Utah, aggravated child abuse includes starvation, broken bones, head injuries from hitting or shaking, and suffocation. If found guilty, the person can face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
After her arrest, Franke’s sister released a joint statement to social media, writing, that justice “needed to happen.”
The statement read,
“For the last 3 years we have kept quiet on the subject of our sister Ruby Franke for the sake of her children. Behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe,”
The siblings also explained that they “wouldn’t feel right” about posting “regular content” without addressing Franke’s arrest.
Their statement ended with,
“Ruby was arrested which needed to happen. Jodi was arrested which needed to happen.”
“The kids are now safe, which is the number one priority.”
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Ruby Franke starved her daughter once
Ruby’s estranged daughter Shari also shared a post on her IG Story of police outside their house and wrote, “Finally.”
She then added another story where she said that she and everyone in her family were glad that Ruby was arrested.
Shari wrote,
“Today has been a big day. 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 8 Passengers channel once had about 2.5 million subscribers and followed the lives of Ruby; her husband, Kevin Franke; and their six children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve.
Kevin, for his part, told his attorney, Randy S. Kester that his “urgent focus is simply to keep his children together under his fatherly care.”
Rumors of child abuse began in 2020 when Chad told his viewers on the vlog that he lost his bedroom after he played a prank on his younger brother.
The rumors worsened when Ruby herself admitted in her video that she wouldn’t give food to her daughter, Eve, 6 at the time because she had forgotten her packed lunch at home.