Ruby Franke Blames Jodi Hildebrandt After Child Abuse Guilty Plea, Judge Says Vlogger Will Go to Prison
The disgraced family vlogger will be sentenced in February
Ron Chaffin/St. George News via AP
Ruby FrankeDisgraced family vlogger Ruby Franke, who pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse this week, claims her longtime business partner Jodi Hildebrant “took advantage” of her and “twisted” their relationship “into something heinous.”
Franke, 41, pleaded guilty to all four child abuse counts on Monday, according to The New York Times. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the once-rising YouTube personality had two additional child abuse charges dropped as part of her plea agreement. She will be sentenced on Feb. 20, 2024. Franke also agreed to "testify truthfully against Jodi Hildebrant," KSL reports.
“With my deepest regret, and sorrow for my family and my children — guilty,” Franke pleaded on the final count, according to the Tribune.
The 5th District Judge, John J. Walton, reportedly told Franke there "won't be any argument" about whether she'll face jail time when she's sentenced in February, the Tribune reports.
Ron Chaffin/St. George News via AP
Related: A Timeline of Ruby Franke's Rise and Fall: From Family Vlogger to Convicted Child Abuser
Prosecutors had detailed the severe abuse Franke’s two youngest children faced in the months leading up to her arrest in late August alongside Hildebrandt, 54, according to the newspaper.
Franke, who vlogged about her Mormon family’s daily life since 2015, had been criticized online in recent years for harsh punishments she and her husband Kevin Franke dolled out to their six children, including accusations the parents had denied their children access to food as a form of punishment.
Ron Chaffin/St. George News via AP
Ruby Franke
Ruby Franke/Instagram
Ruby FrankeThe Tribune reports that throughout Franke’s trial, prosecutors laid out even more details about the abuse her two youngest children faced while under her and Hildebrandt’s watch in recent months after the Franke couple separated.
The newspaper reports that prosecutors alleged Franke had forced her youngest son’s head under water, smothered him with her hands, and kicked him with boots on, while she also denied her youngest daughter food and water, and also made her daughter run barefoot on dirt roads as punishment.
In a statement to local Fox 13 ahead of her guilty plea Monday, Franke’s attorneys at the Winward Law firm laid the blame for her behavior squarely on Hildebrandt – a controversial Mormon sex therapist who Franke befriended and later paired up with to host the divisive Connexions parenting advice podcast.
“Initially, Ms. Franke believed that Jodi Hildebrant had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrant took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous," Franke’s attorneys’ statement to Fox 13 reportedly said.
The attorneys claimed Hildebrandt “ "systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Franke. This prolonged isolation resulted in Ms. Franke being subjected to a distorted sense of morality, shaped by Ms. Hildebrandt’s influence."
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The lawyers’ statement added that Franke “has actively begun the process by reaching out to members of her family” and that she “seeks to mend relationships” with them.
Franke’s oldest daughter celebrated her arrest in late August, writing “finally” on social media alongside images of police outside the family’s home. Franke’s husband Kevin filed for divorce last month, while her sisters have distanced themselves publicly with a joint statement saying her arrest “needed to happen.”
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