Ruby Franke, the mother of six behind the family YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” has been charged with six counts of felony child abuse by the Washington County Attorney in Utah, a spokesperson for the attorney’s office confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday.
Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested last week after law enforcement found Franke’s 12-year-old son emaciated and with open wounds and duct tape on his wrists and ankles. The boy had climbed out of a window of Hildebrandt’s home and ran to a neighbor house for help, according to a probable cause affidavit acquired by NBC News.
Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was found at Hildebrandt’s home in a similar malnourished condition, according to the affidavit. Officials said the condition of the children was so severe that they were transported to a local area hospital. Franke’s other four children were taken into the care of Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services.
Hildebrandt was also charged with six counts of felony child abuse. Each count carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000, the county attorney told NBC News in an emailed statement.
Just reading about some of her, “parenting advice” it was obvious that she was a terrible person. And to think some people actually listened to her
Do you have an example? I dont really want to go rooting around in that rabbit hole trying to find out.
Withholding meals as punishment was one example I saw in a different article.
Ahhh child abuse. What a great parenting technique.
Missing one lunch is hardly abuse. I forgot to grab my lunch on many occasions when I was a kid and nobody even called my parents about it. I was fine.
That doesn’t make her not a bad parent for all the other shit she did but if it was just this one thing it wouldn’t be that bad.
Were you six years old?
There are some things that should never be used in punishment. Food, safety/security, water, sleep, education, housing, and love. She broke several of those rules when she refused to bring her kid lunch.
In comparison, the Geneva Convention literally forbids doing this to enemy POWs.
Not defending her other actions, but the case I heard on NPR this morning they are using against her, was her daughter was assigned to make her own lunch to take to school. She didn’t do it and then had the school call this woman to bring her lunch. Mom said the natural consequence of failing to make your lunch and bring it was to not have lunch. On this ONE incident, the mom is right. We have to teach our children there are natural consequences for bad decisions.
But it sounds like this one incident is the least of her charges.
She threw their homework and other things in the trash. Said they had until the end of the day to pay cash or do chores to get it back so they could learn the real value of their things.
She took her son’s bed away for seven months, apparently because he played a prank on his brother.
Oh, and the kids had to make their own school lunch in the morning. The school calls one day because her 6 year old daughter didn’t have any food. She let the girl go hungry. Quote: