Ruby Franke, well-known American influencer in the world of parenting advice; She could not avoid tears after a judge handed down the sentence that sentenced her to serve a maximum of 30 years in prison for aggravated abuse of her children. The influencer and her partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, have been convicted after being arrested last summer after police found two of Franke's young children with signs of malnutrition and remains that indicated they had been abused.
After the sentencing, Franke, 42, tried to apologize to her children - not present at the trial - for having physically and emotionally abused them, claiming that she had been "manipulated" by Hildebrandt, 54. "I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls. My willingness to sacrifice everything for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. It took away everything that was good from me."
Franke assured that she would not ask for a lesser sentence, in addition to thanking social services for "saving" her children at a time when, according to her, she was under the domination of her partner.
Franke and Hildebrandt had each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse for trying to convince Franke's two youngest children that concepts such as being possessed were evil and should be punished in order to repent.
The two were arrested at Hildebrandt's home in the city of Ivins, Utah, after Franke's 12-year-old son escaped through a window and asked a neighbor to call the police, according to police sources. The boy showed signs of severe malnutrition, was covered in wounds, and told police how Hildebrandt had put ropes on his limbs and used cayenne pepper and honey to heal his cuts.
According to police, the environment in which Franke and Hildebrandt had kept the children bore a chilling similarity to "a Nazi concentration camp" during the Holocaust.
Franke has shown remorse and has cooperated with attorneys; while her partner, who until now was a child mental health counselor, not only does not accept her responsibility, but continues to blame the children. Despite everything, Hildebrandt pleaded guilty in December to four of her six counts of abuse aggravated child abuse, and two charges were dismissed as part of his plea deal.
Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, were well known on social media thanks to their YouTube channel, which they launched in 2015. On the channel they recounted their experience raising six children with an upbringing with deep Christian roots. That all changed when they started working with Hildebrandt's coaching company, ConneXions Classroom, where they interacted, offered advice, support and seminars to other parents.
This is how their common project, Moms of Truth, was born, in which both talked about educational methods that for many were somewhat controversial and harsh. In his plea deal, Franke admitted to things like kicking his son while she was wearing boots, dunking her head in water and covering her mouth and nose with her hands. The two women also admitted to having forced him to overwork him in high temperatures in the summer without food or water, causing him to dehydrate.
Hildebrandt also admitted to forcing Franke's youngest daughter, who was 9 years old at the time, to jump onto a cactus several times and run barefoot on dirt roads until her feet developed blisters. Both children were told that everything they did were "acts of love." The two were hospitalized and taken into state custody along with two other of Franke's children, held under similar circumstances.
Franke has been sentenced to a maximum of 60 years in prison for the four sentences imposed on her, as has her partner. However, the women will only serve up to 30 years in prison, due to a Utah state law that limits sentence length for consecutive sentences. At that time, she will be eligible for parole and it will be determined how much time she will spend incarcerated.
