Ruby Franke sobs in court as she faces sentencing for abusing two of her children and tells Utah judge ‘I was led to believe this world is an evil place’

Ruby Franke appeared in court in Utah on Tuesday for sentencing after pleading guilty to four counts of child molestation in December.

Franke cried in court Tuesday ahead of her sentencing for abusing two of her children.

The criminal “Momfluencer” became an internet sensation thanks to her YouTube channel 8 Passengers in which her millions of viewers watched her and her then-husband, Kevin Franke, raise and discipline their six children.

But late last year, shocking claims emerged that Franke, a Mormon, had abused her children for years, including allegations of starvation and the use of duct tape as a restraint.

Franke was arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, on whom Franke tried to place most of the blame for her family’s abuse.

The couple pleaded guilty in late December.

In court, Franke burst into tears as she told her ex-husband, Kevin Franke, who was in the courtroom, that he was the love of her life.

She said, “I’m sorry I have to leave you to finish what we both started together. The end of our marriage is a tragedy and you were wrapped around my heart.”

Franke did not turn to her ex-husband, who was also moved to tears as he sat behind her in the courtroom with his head bowed.

She also apologized to her six children for the suffering she caused them. “To my babies, my six little chicks. You are part of me. I now see that for the past four years I have been in a deep undertow that has put us in danger. I would never have knowingly led you into darkness.”

She added, “I took from you everything that was soft and safe and good. I took your mother from you. How terrifying this must have been for you… You are so precious to me… I am sorry.”

Before the sentencing on Tuesday, Ruby’s ex-husband Kevin Franke – who had previously demanded Hildebrandt pay for their children’s medical treatment – ​​called for them to be jailed.

“We trust the judge will sentence them both to 1-15 years on each of the four charges, which will run consecutively, and then let the Utah State Board of Pardons decide whether that should be shortened or if other terms should be imposed.” be imposed,” his lawyer said in a statement.

The first arrests took place in August last year after Franke’s 12-year-old child crawled out of the window of Hildebrandt’s home, malnourished and with tape around his ankles.

He reached a neighbor’s house, where the Good Samaritan then called 911.

“A 12-year-old boy just showed up at my front door asking for help,” the neighbor said during the harrowing 911 call.

“We know there have been problems at this neighbor’s house. He is emaciated. He has tape around his legs. He is hungry and he is thirsty.’

The child accused ‘Jodi’ of tying him up and using cayenne pepper and honey to treat the wounds caused by the tape.

He was rushed to a local hospital. Not long after, his 10-year-old sister was found in the same house, also malnourished.

Four of Franke’s minor children were immediately taken into custody.

In court, Franke burst into tears as she told her ex-husband, Kevin Franke, who was present in the courtroom, that he was the love of her life.

Judge John J. Walton accepted Franke’s plea deal, which included an agreement by Franke to serve a prison sentence to run consecutively depending on her sentence.

In the plea agreement, Ruby admits to torturing her son from May 22 through August 30 by forcing him to perform long hours of physical tasks, outdoor summer work without adequate water and “repeated and severe sunburn” with blisters.

He was deprived of food or given very simple meals, and he was isolated from other people without access to books, notebooks or electronics.

After he tried to run away in July, his hands and feet were regularly tied up, sometimes with handcuffs.

Ruby also admitted to kicking her son while wearing boots, holding his head under water and smothering his mouth and nose with her hands, according to the plea agreement.

“He was also told that everything done to him were acts of love,” the agreement states.

Ruby acknowledged that she had similarly abused her 9-year-old daughter by forcing her to work outside, run barefoot on dirt roads and go without food and water.

“She was also repeatedly told that she was evil and possessed, that the punishments were necessary for her to be obedient and repentant, and these things were done to her to help her,” the settlement said.

The girl “was convinced” that what her mother said was true, the agreement said.