Millions of people watched this woman abuse her two youngest children and had no idea.

Content warning: This story includes descriptions of child abuse that may be distressing to some readers.

For years, Ruby Franke opened up her home to millions of curious strangers via the Internet, posting vlog-style videos about her family life and children. Now, she's in prison and living a completely different life.

In February 2024, Franke was sentenced to four to 60 years behind bars for child abuse. This comprises four sentences of one to 15 years, which will run consecutively.

In the previous October, the Utah mother plead guilty to four counts of child abuse. She was originally charged with six counts in September, but two counts were dropped under the plea deal.

Watch: The case explained. Post continues below.

What did Ruby Franke do?

Franke documented every detail of her family life via her now-defunct YouTube channel '8 Passengers' which referred to her six children, herself and her husband Kevin Franke. The family, who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, had nearly 2.5 million subscribers at the channel's peak.

Franke's parenting style shown on camera was strict, to say the least, with some critics suggesting she would chastise her children for doing very vague inappropriate behaviour.

There would be strange punishments and extreme reactions.

Franke spoke about threatening to cut the head off her daughter's stuffed toy to punish her for cutting things in the house. In another video, Franke and her husband told their two youngest children they would not be getting presents from Santa Claus because they weren't responding to punishment like being kept home from school and cleaning the floorboards.

When two of her boys were play fighting, she told them if they continued they would "lose the privilege to eat dinner".

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One of her eldest later recounted the moment when Franke took away his bed for seven months as a form of punishment. He was made to sleep on a beanbag.

Even when the kids said they didn't wish to be filmed or have a private conversation be part of their mother's vlogs, she would continue to film.

As the years went on, some of her eldest children moved out of home and began to distance themselves.

Petitions were also made by concerned followers, calling for child protective services to get involved based on the content Franke was publishing.

The channel was removed from YouTube in early 2023. Her husband Kevin continued to post on a separate, less popular channel.

In 2020, Franke took things a step further. She co-founded a parenting advice and support program called 'ConneXions,' alongside Jodi Hilderbrandt, who is a life coach and author.

ConneXions faced a significant amount of backlash, some suggesting it exerted "cult-like" characteristics. The program also promoted an extreme and harsh parenting style.

As ConneXions grew, Franke's kids were seen less and less online. But that made followers extra concerned given all they had already seen.

In August 2023, Franke and her business partner Hildebrandt were arrested at Hilderbrandt's house.

Ruby Franke with her business partner Jodi Hilderbrandt. Image: Instagram/@connexionscoaching

According to an affidavit filed by the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, one of Franke's children had climbed out of a window of Hildebrandt's residence and ran to a neighbour's house. Once there, the child had asked for food and water.

Page Six reports that the neighbours had called the police after seeing remnants of duct tape on the child's hands and ankles. Arrest documents also stated that when police arrived, the child "appeared to be emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds".

On September 1, 2023, both Franke and Hilderbrandt were charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse, after two of Franke's six children were found abused and malnourished, authorities said.

Two of Franke's other children were placed in the custody of child protection services.

In December 2023, Franke pleaded guilty to four of the six counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse against her, with two others having been dismissed. Franke and her attorney worked with prosecutors on a plea agreement in which she agreed to serve a prison sentence and to testify against Hildebrandt.

Franke's husband, Kevin Franke, then filed for divorce in November 2023. His attorney Randy Kester stated that the couple had been separated for 13 months "at Ruby's directive".

In February 2024, Franke and Hilderbrandt received the same prison sentence — four to 60 years behind bars for child abuse. That means the women could serve up to 30 years in prison, since Utah state code prohibits consecutive penalties to exceed 30 years.

Details of the abuse the children endured

In the plea agreement, Franke admitted to abusing her now-12-year-old son for three months, from May 22 through Aug 30.

The mother forced him to endure hours of physical tasks. This included wall sits — putting his back up against the wall and squatting — carrying boxes of books up and down stairs, and working outside in the summer heat without adequate water. This resulted in "repeated and serious sunburns" that blistered.

He was also denied food or given very plain meals, punished when he secretly drank water, and denied access to notebooks, books, or electronics.

The son unsuccessfully tried to run away from home in July. After that, his hands and feet were regularly bound with handcuffs and ropes. He was forced to lie on his stomach and lift his arms and legs off the ground, injuring his ankles and wrists.

According to the plea agreement, the handcuffs caused cuts in his skin which were treated with homeopathic remedies. The wounds were then covered with duct tape, and this was then re-covered with the bindings.

Franke also confessed to kicking her son while wearing boots, holding his head underwater, and covering his mouth and nose with her hands.

Listen to 'Inside The Rise & Fall Of Ruby Franke' on Mamamia's True Crime Conversations. Post continues after audio.

The plea further said that Franke tried to convince her son he was "evil and possessed" and needed to repent. This caused her son "severe emotional harm".

"He was also told that everything that was being done to him were acts of love," it said.

Franke admitted to abusing her 10-year-old daughter by also forcing her to work outside, go without food and water, and run on dirt roads barefoot.

This "repeatedly injured" her feet, evident by "scabs, blisters, and sloughing skin". Like her brother, she had also been "repeatedly sunburnt".

"She was also repeatedly told she was evil and possessed, the punishments were necessary for her to be obedient and repent, and these things were being done to her in order to help her," the plea agreement said.

Ruby Franke's children speak out.

Back when Franke was first arrested in September 2023, the family's oldest daughter Shari Franke, now 21, went on social media to post a photo of police officers on the scene. She captioned the Instagram story: "Finally."

Shari has now accumulated over 620k followers on Instagram, and is releasing a book about her experience in January 2025.

"For the last year, I've been working on a project close to my heart, and I'm now ready to announce that my memoir, The House of my Mother, is coming out on January 7, 2025. After years of silence, I'm finally sharing MY story in my own words," she wrote on Instagram in October.

"This book will cover the painful journey and experiences of growing up under intense public scrutiny. For years, millions tuned in, captivated by our lives, unaware of the darker realities that unfolded behind the scenes. And for the first time, I share my journey of finding myself outside of my childhood home. The House of my Mother is my story of resilience, truth, and finding my own voice amidst the chaos."

That same month, Shari criticised a Lifetime film that was made about their family. On her Instagram stories, the eldest child claimed that she and her siblings were not contacted about the film and were not receiving any of the profits.

"This movie is trash, and only hurts my siblings more," she said. "Please do not support this movie."

Around the same time, Shari addressed Utah lawmakers, urging them to pass legislation that would reform the family vlogging industry and protect child influencers.

Speaking to the Business and Labor Interim Committee, Shari said "family vlogging ruined my innocence", and claimed there was "no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger".

"If I could go back and do it all again, I'd rather have an empty bank account now and not have my childhood plastered all over the internet," she said. "No amount of money I received has made what I've experienced worth it."

Shari Franke's Instagram stories following her mother's arrest. Image: Instagram/@sharilfranke

19-year-old Chad is Franke and Kevin's eldest son. In July 2024, he started real estate school.

On the one-year anniversary since Franke and Hildebrandt's arrests, Chad posted on Snapchat "Happy Prisonversary" with a photo of his mother before her arrest.

Chad, who had already moved out of the family home before the arrests, also mentioned Hildebrandt in another post.

"A year ago today, I had just gotten off a phone call with Jodi and was going to work a Lifeguard shift," he wrote.

This wasn't the first time Chad had posted about Franke. Months prior, the teenager posted a sarcastic video referencing Franke.

The video had text which read: "GOT A TATTOO OF MY MUM FOR THE SUMMER", then showed Chad wiping off the post-tattoo lotion to reveal nothing on his forearm.

Many commenters said they believed Chad was referencing the idea that he doesn't consider Franke to be his mother or someone he wants in his life.

Chad was also asked by one follower if he would post photos of his younger siblings on social media, but he declined, citing their privacy.

"No, I'm sorry. They'll never be on social media again."

After Franke's arrest, the four minors were taken into custody by the Division of Child and Family Services, as per The Salt Lake Tribune.

According to KUTV, the two youngest children have reportedly "undergone medical care and have been subjected to psychological assessments and ongoing mental health treatment".

Chad Franke's Snapchat posts. Image: Snapchat/@chad-franke

Franke's sisters have also had to release public statements about their sister's actions.

Julie Griffiths Deru and Bonnie Hoellein — who each have their own separate followings online — released a statement.

They said for the last three years they've kept quiet on the matter, but behind closed doors were trying to "make sure the kids were safe".

"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."

You can listen to this full story be discussed on Mamamia's True Crime Conversations.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

This article was originally published on September 12, 2023 and has been updated.

Feature Image: YouTube/Snapchat.