Ruby Franke’s children will soon speak out about the horrific abuse their mother and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt inflicted on their siblings.
A Hulu documentary called ‘Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke’ premieres on February 27 and offers ‘exclusive access to the Frankes, their friends and neighbors, and over a thousand hours of unseen footage from their YouTube channel ‘, according to a press release from the streaming service.
The docuseries will mark the first time Ruby’s estranged husband Kevin and her eldest children Shari and Chad share their story on camera, according to reports Term.
Shari, 21, has already hinted at what she might say in her recently released memoir “The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom.”
She wrote that her mother Ruby was “never warm or kind” to her growing up and often felt uncomfortable with the content she uploaded for millions to see.
Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in December 2023 and was sentenced in February 2024 to four prison terms of one to 15 years.
Hildebrandt received the same sentence, although state law stipulates that both women can serve a maximum of 30 years behind bars. It is up to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole to determine how long they will spend in prison.
“For years, the Frankes’ YouTube channel documented a healthy, happy family life, with 2.5 million subscribers at its peak,” the show’s description reads. ‘As the cracks became apparent, the family turned to consultant Jodi Hildebrandt for advice – and they soon found themselves in a nightmare.’
Shari and Chad Franke will tell their stories of growing up with convicted child molester Ruby Franke as their mother in a new Hulu docuseries
Kevin Franke, who filed for divorce from Ruby after she was arrested, will also be interviewed for the Hulu series
Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in December 2023 and was sentenced in February 2024 to four prison terms of one to 15 years.
In 2014, Ruby and Kevin started their YouTube channel ‘8Passengers’, where they meticulously documented their lives against the backdrop of the family’s Mormon faith.
Over time, viewers of the channel expressed concern about Ruby’s extreme parenting methods.
Perhaps the most famous incident was when Ruby punished her then six-year-old daughter for forgetting her school lunch at home by refusing to bring it to her.
In another incident involving one of Ruby’s sons, eyebrows were further raised when he said he was found sleeping on a beanbag in the hallway after being kicked out of his room for making fun of his other sibling.
In an interview with Business Insider, Ruby emphasized that sleeping on the beanbag had been the boy’s choice.
In 2020, people had started a petition to have Ruby investigated by Child Protective Services. The channel then disappeared from the internet in January 2023 with approximately 2.3 million subscribers.
In 2022, Ruby made the jump to Hildebrandt’s “ConneXions” podcast, where the two sat next to each other on a couch and gave life coaching lessons and tough parenting advice.
Prosecutors later alleged that both women abused two of Ruby’s children behind closed doors at Hildebrandt’s fortress of a $5 million residence.
Ruby and Hildebrandt are pictured during an episode of their controversial podcast ‘ConneXions’
Pictured: Hildebrandt’s mansion in Utah, where she and Ruby held the mommy blogger’s young children captive while starving and torturing them
The 10,000-square-foot home included a “panic room” in the basement, with a vault-like door that locks from the outside
Ruby’s emaciated 12-year-old son Russell escaped from the 10,000-square-foot home in August 2023, leaving police to find his 9-year-old sister slumped in a closet.
Russell crawled out a window and ran to a neighbor’s house, who saw that he had open wounds and tape around his ankles.
Both Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested shortly afterwards. Hildebrandt also surrendered her mental health license once she was in custody.
During the course of a subsequent investigation, police discovered a cramped safe room in the basement of the house that was locked from the outside, rope that would be used to tie up the children, and adult diapers.
The boy also told police that his mother and Hildebrandt would dress their wounds with honey and cayenne pepper, both of which were later found in the house.
Prosecutors also alleged that the two young children were forbidden from socializing with others and were hidden in the house when people came to visit.
Authorities described the environment the children lived in as a “labor camp-like environment,” where they were regularly denied food, water, beds and virtually all forms of entertainment.
Ruby and Hildebrandt’s relationship went beyond that of just business partners or partners in crime, Shari claimed in her new book.
In her memoir, Shari alleged that Ruby and Hildebrandt were involved in a lesbian affair – even while condemning gays as their avid followers
The pair spent more and more time ‘in their upstairs sanctuary’
She claimed the two had a lesbian affair, even though they condemned gays as their avid followers.
According to Shari, Hildebrandt moved into Shari’s bedroom in the Franke family home in Utah, relegating Shari to the living room couch and invoking strict rules that no one could enter without express permission. Even Ruby’s husband Kevin was left out, according to Shari’s book.
“He was told the upstairs was off limits,” Shari wrote. ‘He could leave the house whenever he wanted, but he couldn’t return without Ruby’s permission.
“Even access to the kitchen for meals required her approval.”
Shari also said the two were spending more and more time “in their upstairs sanctuary.”
After his wife’s arrest, Kevin told police that he had not even been to his home or seen his children in over a year. Kevin and Ruby split in July 2022.
“The only way I was ever going to get back into my house was I had to get Jodi’s approval, because if I didn’t get Jodi’s approval. I would never get Ruby’s approval,” Kevin told investigators.
Shari recently shared on Instagram that she is engaged, but now says she is done sharing her private life, a signal that she does not want to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
“I’ve had my voice and agency bothered me for so long, and now I’m putting my foot down,” she explained. “I’m not going to talk about my wedding, future husband or future children.”