Ruby Franke's ex-husband Kevin is haunted by what might have happened if the abuse of his children had continued any longer.

The father-of-six has maintained he was completely unaware of the shocking physical and psychological abuse his children were suffering at the hands of his then-wife, after he was forced out of the family home and banned from contacting them.

The Franke family first rose to fame on Ruby's YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, which documented their daily lives for millions of people to see. Prior to his estrangement from Ruby Franke, Kevin was a regular face on the show.

On camera, it was the perfect façade. But behind the scenes, Franke's children lived in fear.

Now, Kevin has opened up about his "regret", while urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would grant children more protections online.

Watch Ruby Franke's daughter Shari speak. Post continues below.

"Vlogging my family, putting my children into public social media, was wrong, and I regret it every day," Kevin said while addressing the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee, on February 18.

The father, who was reportedly separated from Ruby Franke at the time of her arrest, and filed for divorce in November 2023, also said that "children cannot give informed consent to be filmed on social media".

"If we, as adults, cannot understand the emotional and psychological impacts of sharing our lives to millions of strangers online, how can we expect our children to understand them?"

Kevin also shared statements from two of his daughters, aged 16 and 11.

"As kids, you don't realise what you're subjected to, really," read the eldest daughter's statement, as per The Salt Lake Tribune.

"You're selling your life, your privacy, your body and stories to the entire world — and as a child, you're involuntarily giving up all of that. You're selling your childhood.

"Though there is no amount of money that can make up for that loss, the least that can be done now is making sure the child is getting paid for her work and has the right to remove it and walk away if she wants to."

Listen to The Quicky discuss where Kevin Franke is now. Post continues below.

In the second statement, Franke's 11-year-old daughter said that she is "stuck with the trauma of YouTube".

The bill, which was unanimously passed by the committee, requires "creators who make more than $150,000 a year from online content featuring children to set aside 15 per cent of it into a trust fund that the children can access when they turn 18".

It also gives children the opportunity to ask for the content to be removed from web platforms when they reach adulthood.

While Kevin said the bill is "a great step towards protecting child influencers", he maintained that "there is much more to do in the future".

In 2023, Franke and family therapist Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse over the horrific treatment of Franke's two youngest children.

Last year, the pair were sentenced to 30 years each in prison.

Kevin says he trusted his then-wife and had no idea that was happening behind closed doors. Now, he's focused on rebuilding his relationship with his children.

This is everything we know about Kevin and Ruby Franke's relationship.

Who is Kevin Franke, Ruby Franke's former husband?

Franke started her YouTube channel in 2015. By 2020, the channel already had more than two million subscribers.

Franke and Kevin's six children featured prominently in the videos, which followed the family in their daily lives.

Kevin was also a key figure on the channel and across Franke's social media platforms.

"So grateful for their Dad who takes seriously the call to provide, preside, and protect," she captioned an Instagram post of Kevin and the children in December 2021.

In another post in December 2019, Franke said: "19 years ago I chose to marry @8passengers.kevin ❤️ To this day, it has proved to be the best choice I've ever made. We have built a family, a life and a love that I value more than anything in the world."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jodi & Ruby (@moms_of_truth)

Was Kevin Franke involved in Ruby Franke's child abuse case?

In 2022, Jodi Hildebrandt moved into the family home. Franke's eldest daughter, Shari, says the family therapist took her room and she was forced to sleep on the couch before she left for college. The room then became off-limits, even to Kevin.

Kevin says Hildebrandt, who had been counselling the couple since 2021, pushed Franke to consider separation.

People reports that following a trip with Hildebrandt and another counsellor, Franke told Kevin his attitude was "infesting the family" and the only way to save their marriage was to separate.

During a police interview, Kevin said he was forced to follow specific rules as part of their "in-home separation".

"I could leave when I wanted, but I couldn't come back until Ruby gave me permission. I couldn't come into the kitchen to eat until Ruby gave me permission. And the upstairs where Jodi roamed was completely off-limits. I couldn't go upstairs anymore in my own house," Kevin Franke said.

He told police Hildebrandt was the only person who would let him back into his home if he ever left. Winning her approval felt like an "impossible task".

"No matter what I did, no matter how much I tried to track better or be truthful and not be selfish, every week, it was like, 'you're being manipulative,'" he said.

The couple continued to attend multiple classes a week with Hildebrandt until Kevin was ordered to move out.

Image: Disney

Forced out of the house, Kevin, at Hildebrandt's direction, cut off communication with nearly everyone in his life and was only permitted to talk to Franke if she reached out, his lawyer Randy Kester told People.

"Ruby was only allowed to contact Kevin three or four times" in the next year, Kester said.

His attorney told Today he and Ruby had been separated "at Ruby's directive" for approximately 13 months at the time of her arrest.

"Kevin did not want to be separated," Kester said in September 2023.

"He wanted to work through concerns as a family. There was never any formal, written decree of separate maintenance or separation agreement. The separation was under terms proscribed by Ruby and Jodi Hildebrandt."

Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke. Image: Instagram/moms_of_truth.

Kester said Kevin was unaware of the horrific abuse that unfolded while he was away from the home.

"I haven't seen them for over a year," he said in a police interview in August 2023. "None of them for a year. For a year. I've been in a separation from my wife and family… I've chosen to trust my wife with the children. That was part of the agreement of our separation. "

People reports by the time Kevin learned the whereabouts of his family in August, Franke and Hildebrandt were under arrest.

"Kevin was shocked," Kester told the outlet. "It was at that point that he realised how deceived he had been."

Kevin was questioned by police but was never charged with any wrongdoing.

Ruby Franke documented her family's lives on social media. Image: Instagram/moms_of_truth.

What is Kevin Franke's relationship like with the children now?

Following Franke's arrest in August 2023, the family's four youngest children were taken into the care of the Division of Child and Family Services.

At the time, Kevin's attorney told Page Six his client's "urgent focus" was to "keep his children together under his fatherly care".

In an interview with Today the following month, Kester said Kevin was "making an effort to rebuild and bridge these relationships rather than sling mud and point fingers".

"He is focused on doing what is best for his kids at this point, even if that means undergoing some introspection. None of that process, however, is going to be creating more distance between him and his family, including his extended family."

Kevin filed for custody of the youngest children shortly after Franke's arrest, per the Salt Lake Tribunal. The custody case, which is sealed from the public, is reportedly ongoing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jodi & Ruby (@moms_of_truth)

As part of his efforts to reunite with his children, Kevin filed a motion requesting Hildebrandt be financially responsible for the children's ongoing medical care, as she caused "aggravated psychological and emotional injuries", per Page Six.

A judge then ruled Hildebrandt must set aside $US100,000 for the children following the sale of her home, which was listed for $US5.1 million.

When asked how Kevin and the children were doing during an interview in July 2024, he said, "I can say that we are struggling and working through the process of recovery."

His eldest daughter, Shari, who Ruby Franke disowned when she left for college, recently told People she was trying to rebuild a relationship with her father. To protect her siblings' privacy, she no longer speaks publicly about them.

Kevin says he is focused on rebuilding his relationship with his children. Image: Instagram/moms_of_truth.

Kevin addressed a Utah meeting of the Child Welfare Oversight Panel in July, telling lawmakers he was isolated from his family for more than a year, at Hildebrandt's direction, while she and Franke navigated "loopholes" in the system to evade authorities.

"All they had to do were three things," Kevin said, per KSL TV.

"One, keep the children isolated from the world. Two, ignore all the phone calls from DCFS caseworkers. And three, not answer the door when DCFS and/or police officers knocked. That's it."

KSL reports police visited the Franke home 15 times between March 2019 and August 31, 2023. At least five of which were to assist the Utah Division of Child and Family Services

However, Kevin said authorities didn't make contact with the family during those visits. He claims Hildebrandt coached him to avoid child welfare workers.

"They want to rip your family apart. They want to destroy your family. This is what government does," he recalled her saying. "So, I didn't answer the phone."

Kevin said he can't help but think about what might have happened if the abuse had continued any longer. He wants to protect other families from experiencing the same pain.

"It is a lot to deal with every day — the questions of 'What if? What could have been done? What should have happened? What I should have done? What others should have done?'," he said in July.

"It haunts you."

Read on about the Ruby Franke controversy here:

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

• Ruby Franke was abusing her kids. When her friend moved in, things took an even darker turn.

• How two Utah mums built a parenting support network while abusing their own children: A timeline.

• When police arrested Ruby Franke, her daughter Shari was convinced her siblings were dead.

• Ruby Franke's kids endured years of abuse. Every day, her eldest daughter makes an emotional plea.

• On camera, it was a perfect façade. But this is what Ruby Franke's daughter Shari's childhood was really like.

• Ruby Franke put Shari in front of a camera when she was 9. She wouldn't wish her childhood on anyone.

Feature image: Instagram/moms_of_truth.

This article was originally published in January 2025 and has since been updated.