Sickening new details of the torture YouTuber Ruby Franke subjected her children to have become public today, a day after she pleaded guilty to felony child abuse.
Franke, 41, yesterday admitted abusing at least two of her six children over the last year. She is facing up to 60 years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date.
Her plea agreement, which shaved 30 years off the maximum term she faced, includes new information about how she tormented two of her children.
Franke amassed millions of followers on her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, where she and her husband dolled out parenting advice.
Franke, 41, yesterday admitted abusing at least two of her six children over the last year. She is facing up to 60 years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date
The sickening abuse Franke subjected her children to was described in detail in her plea deal
Her tips were considered harsh. She refused to take her daughter’s lunch to school when she forgot to pack it to teach her responsibility, explaining on TikTok and YouTube that it was the child’s own ‘responsibility’.
The newly released court documents reveal a sadistic Mormon mother more violent and cruel than her online persona ever suggested.
She was hellbent on hurting the children, who she believed were ‘possessed’ and ‘evil’.
The kids, aged 12 and nine, were forced to live outside, working barefoot in the punishing Utah summer heat, often shackled and handcuffed.
They were denied food and punished physically if they were caught trying to sneak sips of water.
Franke kicked them while wearing harsh, heavy boots, held their heads underwater and at times tried to suffocate them by holding her hands over their noses and mouths.
The children were rescued in August after one of Franke’s emaciated sons made an escape, running to a neighbor’s house begging for food and water.
She bound the children, often tying the handcuffs around their wrists to those on their ankles, and forced them to perform physical labor.
Her nine-year-old daughter, referred to in court documents only as EF, was forced to run barefoot down dirt roads.
Franke, her ex-husband Kevin and their six children. She amassed millions of YouTube subscribers and fans by dishing out parenting advice before her August arrest
Franke (right) and her co-defendant, her business part Jodi Hildebrandt (left). Hildebrandt has also been charged
Her 11-year-old son, RF, was made to stand in direct sunlight for days at a time.
When their handcuffs cut through their skin, Franke and business partner Jodi Hildebrandt covered the gashes with duct tape then placed the handcuffs over the tape.
Franke admitted to all of the abuse, signing the document last night after appearing in court.
She tearfully told a judge it was with ‘sorrow and regret’ that she was confessing to the crimes.
In previous court statements, she has claimed through her attorneys to have been manipulated by Hildebrandt.
By the time of her arrest in August, Franke’s husband had left her, citing differences in their parenting styles as the reason for the split.
He filed for divorce in November, three months after her arrest.
Their strict parenting attracted criticism and concern from their 2.3million YouTube subscribers.
One called police after hearing their son describe in one of their videos how he’d slept on a beanbag for seven months.
By the time she was arrested, Franke was also regularly collaborating with Hildebrandt on her channel – ConneXions.
There, they talked about prioritizing ‘principles of truth’ over one’s own children.