Ruby Franke is in jail for child neglect and child abuse.

Question

Social media has been spiraling with the story that Ruby Franke from the YouTube series "8 Passengers" was arrested for child abuse. Allegedly, one of Franke's children escaped from a window and asked a neighbor for food and water. The neighbor then called the cops.

Comments

All of this is true. On December 18th 2023 Ruby Frank plead guilty to four counts of child abuse with her friend and co host of her podcast Jodi Hildebrandt. When she said she would testify against her two counts were dropped. The judge spoke how the neighbors saw her child in bad condition after he crawled out of a window to get help. There are multiple sources that say these facts and a video of the court case of her admitting to all of it. This is just one source.

https://ksltv.com/608636/ruby-franke-pleads-guilty-to-4-counts-of-child-abuse/

Answer 1

Ruby Franke, a YouTube family channel influencer, was arrested on August 30, 2023, in connection to child abuse and neglect charges. This stems from an incident where one of her children, now 12-years old, escaped from Jodi Hildebrandt’s house, a friend and business partner of Ruby Franke, and ran towards a neighbors home. When getting there, the neighbor witnessed the horrors of the child abuse starting with duct tape and ropes wrapped around the child as well as him asking for food and water. The neighbor called 9-1-1 to report this incident and when they arrived to the house, police learned that another child was at Hildebrandt’s home during this incident who also faced these atrocities. Both children were taken to a hospital to receive treatment and placed in child protective services along with two other siblings, according to CBS News. While receiving treatment from the hospital is was found that Franke and Hildebrandt were creating their own holistic remedies to clean the wounds that they inflicted on the children with honey and cayenne pepper. Both Franke and Hildebrand were charged with six counts of “aggravated child abuse.” 

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-franke-son-says-therapist-tied-him-up-with-ropes-used-cayenne-pepper-to-dress-wounds/

https://kutv.com/news/nation-world/youtube-8-passengers-ruby-franke-connexions-classrooms-jodi-hildebrandt-search-warrants-reveal-new-details-felony-child-abuse-case-cayenne-pepper-honey-dress-wounds-mental-health-family-therapy-utah-ivins-washington-county#%3E

https://kutv.com/news/nation-world/youtube-8-passengers-ruby-franke-connexions-classrooms-jodi-hildebrandt-search-warrants-reveal-new-details-felony-child-abuse-case-cayenne-pepper-honey-dress-wounds-mental-health-family-therapy-utah-ivins-washington-county#%3E

Answer 2

Ruby Franke, the Mom of the popular Youtube Channel "8 Passengers" was in fact arrested for child abuse. The arrest was made on August 30, 2023 after her youngest son Russel escaped her business partner, Jodie Hildebrandt's, house and went to a neighbors. The neighbor thankfully called the cops after noticing he was malnourished and was injured. Both Hildebrandt and Ruby have since pleaded guilty to four of the six charges. The details of the abuse are disturbing and included serious physical task, with very minimal water, and very serious sun burns to her son Russel. He was also denied food when he secretly drank water. Franke also admitted to kicking her son multiple times. The court also ruled Hildebrandt played a role in the abuse, which led to her arrest. This case was very public and was broadcasted by many trustworthy, national news outlets.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-franke-plea-agreement-child-abuse-youtube/

https://www.today.com/parents/moms/who-is-jodi-hildebrandt-ruby-franke-business-partner-rcna117388

Comments

How would your rate the claim based on your fact-check? True, false, N/A, opinion? Always select a rating for each fact-check. Thanks!

Answer 3

This claim is true. Ruby Franke, a family vlogging channel "8 Passengers" mom, was charged with six counts of child abuse in September. After her youngest son attempted to escape out his window, he was discovered "severely malnourished and had sustained 'deep lacerations; from being tied up with a rope" by a neighbor. Franke herself admitted to "kicking her son while wearing boots, holding his head under water and smothering his mouth and nose with her hands," according to her plea. Franke has been in custody since. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-franke-plea-agreement-child-abuse-youtube/

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197833521/ruby-franke-charges-youtube-child-abuse

Answer 4

This is true, as information about the case has entered public record. NBC news reported on the story as it broke, with their source being a spokesperson from the office of the presiding attorney. Franke's children were found tied up and in malnourished condition, and she will face significant jail time. At time of this response, sentencing has either not occurred or has not been made public, but she is facing 6 felony counts which each constitute a 15-year sentence. 

Ruby Franke formally charged with 6 counts of felony child abuse (nbcnews.com)

Answer 5

The following statement is a true statement. As Cbs news reports on the case, it is a fact that she plead guilty to six counts of child abuse. Two have been dropped due to her plead deal.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-franke-plea-agreement-child-abuse-youtube/

Answer 6

Yes, Ruby Franke has been incarcerated since pleading guilty to each of her first three charges. Ruby Franke was taken under custody on August 30 after one of Franke's son escaped their home and came to a neighbor's house asking for food and water but was found to be visibly distressed with duct tape around his hands and feet.
 
Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were originally charged with six counts of child abuse in September, and two counts were dropped under the plea deal. Hildebrandt was also charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse and has remained jailed since her arrest. Ruby was physically torturing and starving at least two of her six children. Both children were told they were evil and possessed.

https://apnews.com/article/youtube-mom-parenting-child-abuse-plea-e948e133d6df87f6cef484156b07c41a

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-franke-plea-agreement-child-abuse-youtube/

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/18/1220098496/ruby-franke-the-youtube-mom-who-gave-parenting-advice-pleads-guilty-to-child-abu

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-vlogger-ruby-franke-expected-enter-plea-agreement-child-abuse-c-rcna130149

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xxltf9IANU&ab_channel=GoodMorningAmerica
(video that features some of the trial)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFysNL_tkLM&ab_channel=KUTV2NewsSaltLakeCity
(video that is mainly the plea section of the trial)

Comments

Nice job providing so many sources for your fact-check.

Answer 7

This comment is true Ruby Franke from a YouTube channel called "8 Passenger" along side Jodi Hilderbrandt were charged with six felonies counts for aggravated child abuse. Ruby Franke was business partner with Jodi Hilderbrandt where later on the treatment of the children were exposed to the media. While Hilderbrandt was so called watching over the Franke's children one managed to escape in august to ask for food and water since they weren't being taken care of. After the situation the police was called and they both got charged. Besides the underage children being mistreated the oldest daughter who is adult spoke up about the situation to give the siblings justice. Franke has agreed to serve for all the four counts where each carry 1-15 years of prison time, however they have one more court hearing on February 20th, 2024 where they will agree on the term

https://www.businessinsider.com/ruby-franke-pleaded-guilty-to-child-abuse-charges-2023-12#:~:text=Franke%20and%20Hildebrandt%20were%20each,full%20weight%20of%20her%20actions.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50829455/8-passengers-case-jodi-hildebrandt-follows-vlogger-ruby-franke-in-child-abuse-guilty-plea

https://kutv.com/news/8-passengers-case/ruby-frankes-plea-deal-child-abuse-case-8-passengers-youtube-utah-torturing-children-months-days#

Answer 8

The claim that Ruby Franke is in jail for child neglect and child abuse is true. When searching the key words “Ruby Franke,” “jail,” and “child abuse,” several articles from well known news outlets are shown making similar claims. These outlets include NBC News, CBS News, NPR, USA Today, and ABC News. From these sources, I gathered that on August 30th, 2023, Ruby Franke was arrested and charged with six counts of child abuse . This arrest came after one of Frankes’ sons escaped and went to a neighbor's house, where he was described as being “emaciated and malnourished.” On December 18th, 2023, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. Sources such as The New York Times state that Franke will stay incarcerated until her sentencing, which is expected to happen late February, 2024. Along with these online articles, there's courtroom footage of Frankes plea hearing available online, aligning with the four counts of aggravated child abuse charges discussed by the sources listed above.  

Answer 9

Yes, this is all true. According to an article published by NBC News in September 2023, Franke was charged with 6 accounts of felony child abuse. Regarding a CBS News article that was published in December 2023, two of the six charges were dropped following a plea deal, and she admitted guilty to three. Her sentencing won't be until February 20, 2024. 

Answer 10

This is true.

YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke's "8 Passengers" was controversial due to some perceiving her behaviors as "toxic."

According to several news sites, Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested in August 2023 and charged with six counts of felony child abuse in September 2023. Franke and Hildebrandt pled guilty to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse.

An affidavit filed by an officer with the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department states that Franke's 12-year-old escaped from a window in Hildebrandt's home and asked the neighbors for help, according to CBS News.

NPR stated, "Police said Franke's malnourished son escaped out a window with his arms and legs covered in duct tape, fleeing to a neighbor's house seeking food and water."

KUTV 2 News posted recordings of Franke's court appearance.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-vlogger-ruby-franke-expected-enter-plea-agreement-child-abuse-c-rcna130149

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-franke-charged-child-abuse-utah-six-counts-youtuber-jodi-hildebrandt/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFysNL_tkLM