Mommy Vlogger Blames ‘Dark Delusion’ at Child Abuse Sentencing
Mommy vlogger Ruby Franke was sentenced to four consecutive one- to 15-year prison terms in her child abuse case on Tuesday.
“I .. believed dark was light and right was wrong,” she reportedly told her kids in the courtroom. “I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe, and good.”
“For the past four years, I’ve chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion,” Franke added to the court. “My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me.”
Franke’s business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, will also be sentenced on Tuesday. Ahead of the hearing, Franke’s husband had expressed in no uncertain terms that he hoped both women get the maximum amount of time behind bars.
“We trust the judge to sentence them both to one to 15 years for each of the four counts, to run consecutively, and let the Utah State Board of Pardons decide if that should be shortened or other conditions imposed,” Kevin Franke said in a statement shared by his lawyer, Randy Kester, to Law & Crime. A maximum sentencing on all four counts would amount to 60 years of jail time for both women.
“The treatment these children received at the hands of those whom the children had a right to trust, was horrific and inhumane, both physically and psychologically,” Kester said. “Kevin remains focused on the rehabilitation of these sweet and vulnerable children so that they might return to a normal life as soon as possible.”
Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in August after one of Franke’s children ran away from home and was found emaciated, with open wounds, and marks on his ankles and wrists from being bound with duct tape.
Both women were charged with six counts of child abuse. In December, Franke and Hildebrandt each pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree felony child abuse, as part of a plea deal.
As part of that deal, Franke and Hildebrandt admitted to several instances of abuse of two of her children. The agreement described how she forced her children to work for long hours outside. Franke required her 12-year-old son to stay in the sun for several days and denied him water.
“These actions resulted in repeated and serious sunburns with blisters and sloughing skin,” the agreement said.
She also made her 9-year-old daughter work outside while barefoot and denied her both food and water.
The children were repeatedly told that they were “possessed” and needed to “repent” through menial labor and punishment, according to the agreement.
In November, Kevin Franke filed for divorce from his wife, and according to his lawyer, the couple had been separated for months. Ruby Franke’s legal team argued that Hildebrandt had “systematically isolated” Franke, causing her to adopt a “distorted sense of morality,” leading to the brutal mistreatment of her children.
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