Disgraced YouTuber Ruby Franke today pleaded guilty to felony child abuse as part of a plea deal four months after her malnourished children were found at the Utah home of her business partner.
Franke, wearing gray and white jail clothing, pleaded guilty to each of the first three charges individually and on the fourth said: ‘With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty.’
Franke and partner Jodi Hildebrand were arrested earlier this year after one of Franke’s six children escaped the home in Ivins, Utah, running to a neighbor’s home where he knocked on the door asking for food and water.
Franke, wearing gray and white jail clothing, pleaded guilty to each of the first three charges individually and on the fourth said: ‘With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty’
Franke smiled at her attorney and corrections officers as she entered the court on Monday
Originally, Franke was facing six second-degree felony counts of child abuse. Combined, those charges carried a maximum sentence of 90 years in prison.
Today’s plea deal cuts the maximum penalty to 60 years. A judge will decide her fate in February.
The pair had been running Franke’s YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, where she gave parenting advice.
Franke insists she was manipulated by Hildebrand, who was also charged earlier this year.
Her attorneys say Hildebrand’s influence created a ‘distorted sense of reality’.
‘Ruby Franke is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement,’ Winward Law said in a statement.
Franke initially believed that Hildebrandt ‘had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement,’ but said that Hildebrandt ‘took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous,’ Franke’s attorneys claim.
Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now-defunct 8 Passengers channel, was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right) on August 30
The popular YouTuber was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt last month and charged with six counts of felony child abuse after one of her sons was discovered with open wounds and duct tape on their limbs
Hildebrandt ‘systematically isolated Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children, and her husband, Kevin Franke,’ the statement said.
By the time she was arrested, Franke’s polished personal life had crumbled. Her husband had left her, citing differences in their parenting styles as the reason their marriage could no longer work.
She had launched a personal coaching channel with Hildebrand.
Franke, 41, had been facing up to 90 years in prison on six second degree felony charges. Now, she faces up to 60