Wicked mum Ruby Franke details sick punishments for children in chilling journal
As the daughter of Ruby Franke opens up about the harrowing toll her mother's abuse has taken on her, the Mirror takes a look at the disgraced parenting vlogger's statistical journal of torture
In front of the camera, American vlogger Ruby Franke was all smiles, selling her supposedly picture-perfect family life via her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers. But her shocking journal laid bare the reality behind her cheerful cooking and parenting content.
Behind the scenes, the Utah-based mum-of-six was subjecting her children to unthinkable abuse. Now, one daughter has spoken out about the "trauma" she's endured on account of her mother's cruelty, which has left her unable to make friends.
43-year-old Franke created her once-popular YouTube channel back in early 2015 with a focus on her Mormon suburban life with her now estranged husband, Kevin Franke, and their six children. Making a splash during what was a boom time for parenting content, Franke attracted more than two million subscribers, plus one billion views, in the space of just five years.
By 2020, however, viewers began to suspect something wasn't right when one of Franke's sons revealed he'd been banned from his bedroom and forced to sleep on a bean bag for months on end. Then, in August 2023, a neighbour contacted 911 after Franke's then 12-year-old son escaped from a window, fleeing to their house for help.
The "emaciated and malnourished" child, who had "open wounds and duct tape around the extremities", was rushed to hospital in a "severe" condition. Police officers were sent to the home of Franke's business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, where he had been staying, and discovered his emaciated nine-year-old sister slumped inside a closet, her head shaved.
A number of horrifying torture devices were discovered at the property - including rope, handcuffs, and a bowl of cayenne pepper paste. It was at this point that the public facade completely fell apart, with Franke arrested alongside Hildebrandt. In December of that year, the pair pleaded guilty to child abuse and were jailed for four terms of one to 15 years each.
For those investigating the case, Franke's own diary entries offered a grim glimpse into the agonies her children were subjected to.
Twisted family vlogger Ruby Frake publicised her children's lives onlineFranke documented harrowing details of the abuse her children suffered in her sadistic diaries. The Utah mum wrote often of punishing her kids because she believed they were "possessed" by the devil and displayed signs of "satanic chaos". Her abusive ramblings often included religiously rooted writings.
She wrote that one of her sons "refuses to do wall sits—he says he is done," the day before she declared he must "sleep outside." She added that another child "refuses to work. Screams. Has hair shaved off." Her redacted diaries seemed to centre on two children, labelled as 'E' and 'R'.
She gloated in one diary entry: "They are both furious their selfish, sinful lifestyle is being intervened upon." When they were rescued from her home, the children said they were punished and tortured by their mother as a way to help them with their deviance.
Her unhinged diaries described demonic possession and torturing her kidsFranke wrote that child R was "in and out of possession" and that she told him "that he needs God. I invited him to fast and pray." She also wrote of her poor children "stealing water", depriving them of food, and declaring that she "cut more [hair] off E's head. We doused her with water in the dog wash."
She wrote that when one of her kids tried to run away, she "screamed for another family, water, food, care, love". The children were kept in the dark about important life events despite being splashed all over the family YouTube channel. Franke cruelly wrote: "It's (R's) birthday. He doesn't even know what month it is."
The next day, Franke's torture continued, and she began her entry by writing that it was a "big day for evil." She described forcing her son to stand out in the blazing sun and prodding him with a poker whenever he tried to move into the shade. After allowing him back out of the heat, she covered him with dirty "old mop water".
Her children were locked in a 'safe room' inside her business partner's house (Image:
lawandcrime/Youtube) Rope, handcuffs and cayenne pepper paste were found at Hildebrandt's home (Image:
lawandcrime/Youtube)Also sent behind bars, Franke's business partner Hildebrandt - whom she shared another YouTube channel, ConneXions Classrooms, with - was referenced numerous times throughout the unhinged diary, including Franke feeling her kids stopped being "possessed" around her, then would "act up" once alone again.
Much of the evidence was recovered from a 'panic room' in Hildebrandt's property, the court was told. Chilling bodycam footage, later released by Utah prosecutors, showed the so-called 'safe room' where Franke's children were locked up. The room had a vault-like door with a small bed, cabinets, a fridge, a sink and some cleaning supplies.
In a recent interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, one of Ruby's daughters, who remains unnamed, called upon Utah lawmakers to consider passing a bill requiring online creators earning more than $150,000 (£119,000) annually from content featuring children to put aside a portion into a trust fund, as a contribution towards their kids' future.
After realising that the YouTube channel had "ruined [her] childhood", this 11-year-old girl had at least believed she would at least one day receive some of her mother's earnings. This was not the case, however, with Franke having withdrawn all the cash in 2023.
The child shared: “I worked hard for that money. I acted like someone I wasn’t in front of the camera, and I earned that money. But I feel like my mom used me for money.” She also shed light on how the ordeal had affected her, telling the publication: “Even now, I can barely make friends because my whole life I was the centre of … attention. But now, without even realizing it, I seek attention from others, or I feel like they don’t like me. Then those people think I’m mean.”
Opening up about her own pain in a statement, the girl's 16-year-old sister said: “As kids, you don’t realize what you’re subjected to, really. 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."
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com
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