Ruby Franke's estranged husband exposes her disturbing spiral as she faces conviction for child abuse

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Ruby Franke, once celebrated as a parenting influencer and part of the popular '8 Passengers' YouTube channel, has been sentenced to four consecutive one to 15-year prison time, amounting to a total of a 60-year jail term for child abuse.

The unraveling of her carefully curated persona sheds light on a disturbing spiral that culminated in her descent into madness and abuse.

Amidst the revelations, her estranged husband, Kevin Franke, has come forward, exposing the harrowing details of their tumultuous journey.

The nightmare unfolded when Franke's 12-year-old son, emaciated and injured, managed to escape from a residence where he and his younger sister endured starvation and were restrained with duct tape.

This revelation peeled back the layers of his life, revealing a facade built on the underpinnings of her highly cultivated image as a Mormon mommy vlogger.

However, behind the scenes, a disturbing reality of abuse and delusion unraveled. In recently released police audio and video files, Franke depicts a chilling portrayal of their life together.

His fixation on a self-help group led by Jodi Hildebrandt, known as ConneXions Classroom, played a crucial role in their downfall.

Franke's writings, described as "pen papers," detailed visions and supernatural phenomena, illustrating her deep entanglement with Hildebrandt's ideologies.

“These things are going to be so — she wouldn’t write — the stuff she wrote in the pen papers she would not write in her journal,” he said. “The stuff she wrote in the pen papers was not intended to be read by anybody until God would decree them to be written in Scripture for the whole world to read,” reported Law & Crime.

Kevin Franke's introduction to ConneXions

During the summer or autumn of 2019, Franke was ultimately persuaded to participate in his inaugural conference organized by Hildebrandt’s organization.

He described his initial impression of ConneXions as "absolute craziness," perceiving it as a gathering of women harboring hostility towards men, seeking opportunities to criticize their spouses.

After persistent persuasion from friends, Franke reluctantly joined a "men's group" facilitated by Hildebrandt in January 2020, committing to an initial three-month period.

However, he quickly discovered it was an addiction recovery group. He thought, "I don’t belong here," but claimed he felt pressured by his friends to stay involved, so he persisted. Despite feeling like he didn't fit in, Franke remained engaged due to his friends' insistence.

Initially planning to depart after fulfilling the three-month commitment, he found himself compelled to have a "vulnerable conversation" with his wife about his "lustful choices" and their consequences for her.

Although initially skeptical, he accepted the challenge. During a two-hour conversation, Ruby emotionally expressed her feelings about their marriage, addressing issues such as Franke's requests for sex and lingerie.

Despite his initial reluctance, he was moved by his wife's words, prompting him to continue participating in the ConneXions men's group and attending weekly meetings.

The unforeseen fallout of a YouTube video

Initially, Franke noted that their marriage appeared to be “better and stronger." However, their situation took a turn for the worse, resulting in significant upheaval in their lives.

In May 2020, Ruby uploaded YouTube videos featuring their eldest son Chad Franke sleeping on a bean bag, which unexpectedly garnered widespread attention and backlash.

According to Franke, this incident led to intense criticism of their parenting methods from hundreds of thousands of TikTok users, causing their popular YouTube channel to suffer severe repercussions. As a result, the family experienced a drastic reduction of around 90% in their income virtually overnight.

During this challenging period, Ruby was “really distraught” and sought validation from someone who could understand her feelings, which she found in Hildebrandt, as recounted by Franke.

“All the stuff she did with Chad was because of Jodi,” he told the police. “So it makes sense she would go to Jodi for emotional support when she felt like her world was burning down.”

Ruby Franke's descent into madness

However, what began as a quest for reassurance soon spiraled into a descent into madness. Ruby's erratic behavior, fueled by Hildebrandt's influence, led to a series of alarming incidents, including encounters with supernatural forces and disturbing visions.

“She believed she was being tormented and haunted by shadow figures every night,” he said. “And that was spooky.”

This eventually resulted in Ruby and Hildebrandt sharing the same bed. When prompted to provide more details about the visions, Franke recalled numerous instances.

In one, Jesus Christ purportedly instructed Hildebrandt on walking on water. In another, she imagined having a large pet lion named Charles, which she could ride while accompanied by "heavenly father and heavenly mother," assisting in her journey of self-discovery.

Franke informed the police that numerous visions contained satanic themes. He described how "The voices would say: ‘She’s ours. We’re not letting go. She is Satan’s bride. She’s mine. I am going to marry her.'"

Around October 2021, Franke, who was tasked with overseeing the children in the basement during spiritual gatherings at the residence, incurred Hildebrandt's displeasure when Chad and his friends were present in the backyard during what was termed an "intervention" organized by the women's group.

Inside the Frankes' turbulent household split

After this incident, the Frankes initially initiated a separation, which began with them living apart while still in the same home. The husband informed the police that he could leave the house at his discretion but required permission to return.

Additionally, he stated that he was restricted from accessing the kitchen for meals or communicating with his wife without prior permission.

According to Franke, the entire second floor of the house was designated for Hildebrandt's use and was off-limits to him. The initial separation concluded around the holiday season in 2021, with Hildebrandt returning to her own residence in January 2022.

However, at this point, Ruby was in the process of transferring ownership of '8 Passengers' to Hildebrandt in exchange for taking on a role as a ConneXions employee. The family's manager advised against this arrangement and was subsequently dismissed.

Expressing his frustration, Franke warned his wife against relinquishing control of her multimillion-dollar brand. However, Ruby reportedly responded that monetary concerns were inconsequential as they were fulfilling divine purposes.

During the summer of 2022, Franke claimed that Ruby, Hildebrandt, and another woman traveled to Arizona to purchase prescription drugs. Upon their return in July 2022, Ruby asked her husband to leave the premises.

Afterward, he never saw his children again. Subsequently, the torment began at Hildebrandt’s residence in Ivins, Utah.