March 23 (UPI) — Authorities in Utah’s Washington County have released a trove of videos, pictures and other evidence collected in their child abuse probe of convicted YouTube parenting influencer Ruby Franke.
The cache of 29 videos, plus audio, photos and documents, detail the escape of Franke’s 12-year-old son as he seeks help from a neighbor of Franke’s business partner and co-defendant, Jodi Hildebrandt.
The videos provided by Washington County authorities include doorbell camera footage, police bodycam footage and police interviews of Franke.
Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt in February were sentenced to four consecutive prison terms totaling up to 60 years in prison, but Utah law limits consecutive prison terms to no more than 30 years.
They each pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse, with each count punishable by between one and 15 years in prison.
The boy was 12 and his sister 9 when they were freed from the abusive conditions Franke and Hildebrandt imposed on them while they were kept at Hildebrandt’s home.
Franke has six children but focused on the two because she thought they were “evil” and possessed by demons, according to prosecutors. Franke was a parenting influencer on YouTube, but authorities accused her of “permitting serious physical injury” to her children in several ways.
Prosecutors claimed Franke and Hildebrandt on multiple occasions tortured and injured the children, jeopardized their lives through forced starvation and caused them to suffer severe emotional harm.
They said the abuse stopped only after the boy escaped Hildebrant’s home in Ivins, Utah, and ran to a neighbor’s home, whose owner called the police. The boy’s visit to the home and call to the police are among the videos posted by Washington County.
Hildebrandt was a licensed therapist who Washington County officials say operated an online self-improvement program in partnership with Franke.
A parole board will determine how long each of the women remains in prison.
