Ruby Franke’s estranged husband was seen on bodycam footage asking police to charge his daughter with theft, shortly after the mommy blogger was arrested for child abuse.
Disgraced parenting blogger Ruby, 41, was arrested in August after her ’emaciated’ son alerted police to alleged horrific neglect. Ruby ran a controversial parent advice service, ConneXions, with business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, who was also arrested.
The Mormon YouTuber, who ran the 8 Passengers page, and Hildebrant were each charged with six counts of child abuse after police rescued two of Ruby’s six children at Hildebrant’s home. Both children appeared to be malnourished, and police subsequently raided Ruby’s home nearby to locate her other children.
Two days after Ruby was arrested following the home invasion, her estranged husband, Kevin Franke, called the police, claiming the house had been broken into and robbed, and blaming it on their eldest daughter, Shari, 20.
“Explain to me again why this wasn’t a robbery?” Kevin asked detectives when they were returning the items, as seen in the recently released bodycam footage.
Ruby Franke’s estranged husband asked police to arrest his daughter for theft, shortly after the mommy blogger was arrested for child abuse
Disgraced parenting blogger Ruby Franke and her estranged husband Kevin
After Ruby was arrested, Kevin called the police, claiming the house had been broken into and robbed, and blamed their eldest daughter, Shari, 20.
But Springville police told the father that the door to the property was damaged when they broke it open during the raid on August 30. They refused to take action against Shari, who handed over passports, phones and tablets she had taken from the family property after the police raid.
Police said Shari’s intention was “not to take anything from him and that she had previously been allowed into the house.”
Moreover, Kevin ‘admittedly had not been in the house for 13 months.’
Kevin wasn’t convinced by the explanation and told the police to investigate their response.
In a police report, he had told police that the front door of his home had been “kicked in” and damaged, with some electronic items missing. He claimed it was his eldest daughter who broke in.
But he ‘wanted to have his daughter charged with theft for taking some hard drives from the house’, with officers telling him she ‘didn’t know’ she wasn’t allowed to have them.
Shari returned the items – three tablets, three cellphones, three cameras, diaries and three passports – to Springville police. Officers then returned them to her father.
Kevin reportedly threatened to sue the police after they refused to charge his daughter with any crime.
The police report, seen by Fox News, said: “Kevin stated that Shari is not allowed in the house, and that he believes she entered unlawfully and that he wants to charge her with burglary.”
Shari posted about her mother’s arrest on Instagram, sharing a photo of police officers outside the house with the caption, “Finally.” She revealed in April that she had cut off contact with the family.
In an Instagram Story following her mother’s arrest, Shari celebrated her mother’s arrest, saying she had been “trying to tell the police and law enforcement about this for years.”
Ruby Franke, (left) who ran the now defunct Channel 8 Passengers, was arrested on August 30 along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right).
The officers – armed with a search warrant – burst open the door, only to find the house empty and the children still missing
Shari also said that she is “so happy that they finally decided to take it a step further” and that her siblings are safe.
Kevin has said he has only seen the alleged child molester four times since their marital breakdown last year, and claims he only learned of his family’s whereabouts when his wife and two youngest children, 10-year-old Eve and 12-year-old Russell, were in the hospital.
Police allege the couple’s son, Russell, was held to the ground with ropes while the women rubbed cayenne pepper and honey into his wounds. He escaped through a window and ran to get help before the pair were arrested.
Kevin’s attorney Randy Kester told PEOPLE that the father was “understandably upset that his front door had been forced open and much of his belongings had been taken.”
“Despite what he perceived as a significant and hurtful violation of the sanctity of his home and property, Kevin has followed an improving and healing path… He has taken no action against the police and continues to strengthen ties between and all his children,” the lawyer’s statement added.
It comes as police released bodycam footage showing how armed police stormed the disgraced blogger’s Utah mansion in search of her children. Her son and youngest daughter were removed from the home. Officers then started looking for the woman’s two middle children.
In the weeks that followed, videos circulated of Ruby gleefully talking about forcing her son to sleep on a beanbag as punishment and refusing to bring her daughter a school lunch after forgetting to pack it herself.
Ruby, 41, was later arrested and charged with six counts of child abuse
Kevin, 44, rarely heard from his wife after Jodi – their marriage counselor at the time – came into their lives and was shocked by the circumstances surrounding her arrest.
“Kevin was shocked,” Kevin’s attorney, Randy Kester, told PEOPLE. ‘It was then that he realized how deceived he had been.’
Ruby’s family previously told DailyMail.com that she should be ‘put away forever’ if convicted of the abuse.
Her sisters-in-law Cynthia and Jennifer Franke say they believe the abuse allegations against the mother of six, saying they are “shocked” and “sickened.”
Ruby previously made astonishing claims during a court hearing that one of her minor children had sexually abused one of their siblings and other children.
She also claimed that her two children were playing a “beating” game with each other, but did not elaborate.
Ruby said her child admitted in May to sexually assaulting 20 people, including cousins and neighbors. She has not provided any evidence to support her sickening accusations.
Her strict parenting style has faced repeated backlash since she started the channel in 2015.
Viewers called child protection in 2020 after their son Chad, 15, claimed he had been sleeping on a beanbag for seven months.
She also threatened to throw away her children’s things if they didn’t pay her cash for them, claiming it was a lesson in understanding the value of their things.
Both Franke and Hildebrant have previously been criticized for their teachings on parenting – working with Hildebrandt’s life advice service ConneXions.