The mum-of-six was arrested on Friday, September 1st.
Ruby Franke, who is well-known for uploading parenting advice on YouTube to her channel ‘8 Passengers’, has been arrested on two counts of alleged aggravated child abuse.
The 41-year-old from Utah in the US garnered millions of subscribers to her now-defunct channel that followed the family life with Franke, her husband Kevin, and their six children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve.
The former YouTuber and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, have been arrested and taken into custody after her emaciated 12-year-old son reportedly climbed out a window and sought food and water from a neighbour’s house.
According to a court filing by the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, it was also noted that the neighbour claimed the boy’s ankles and wrists had duct tape on them, which further prompted them to call the police.
Hildebrandt, 54, owns the counselling service ConneXions Classroom, which Franke appeared on several times, and she was also arrested on two counts of aggravated child abuse.
Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was also allegedly found in a state of malnourishment and was taken to hospital.
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After the arrest, two of Franke’s neighbours spoke to NBC News and told them that people in the community alerted child services in the past and has accused the YouTuber of withholding food from her kids as punishment, something she shared to her channel.
“Everyone is just breathing a collective sigh of relief because we thought they were going to come out of that house with body bags,” a male neighbour said.
“I remember that she took away their Christmas one year and she would say things like ‘They’re not repenting correctly,’ which is a Mormon term for ‘they’re sinning.’ Just complete insanity.”
Neighbours also alleged that Franke would leave the house for weeks at a time and leave the children inside.
On Thursday (September 1st) , a judge refused Franke bail after a detective mentioned ‘the severity of the injuries of her two kids located in the home.’
The Department of Child and Family Services took four of Franke’s children into custody, according to the detective.
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