YouTuber Ruby Franke pleads guilty to child abuse with ‘deepest regret and sorrow’
Disgraced YouTube star Ruby Franke pleaded guilty on Monday to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse.
The Utah mother of six, who rose to fame as the host of the vlog “8 Passengers,” will be sentenced on Feb. 20, 2024.
“With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty,” a shaky-sounding Franke is heard saying in court.
Franke’s attorney didn’t immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
On Friday, however, the law firm representing her announced that she would enter a plea agreement.
Franke, 41, who has remained behind bars without bail since her arrest in August, is pursuing “personal growth and rehabilitation” by apologizing to and attempting to reconcile with her family.
The firm’s statement also accused Franke’s business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, who was arrested alongside the internet sensation, for leaving Franke “systematically isolated” from her family, causing her to develop a “distorted sense of morality.”
“Initially, Ms. Franke believed that Jodi Hildebrant had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement,” the statement read of the Connexions co-founder.
“Ms. Hildebrant took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous.”
Franke’s husband, Kevin, filed for divorce in November, but his attorney said they had been separated for more than a year at the time she was taken into police custody.
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The estranged couple’s children remain in the care of child protective services, but Ruby’s attorneys’ statement said she’s offered her “full cooperation” to help reunite Kevin with their kids.
Ruby Franke arrest: What you need to know
Ruby Franke was a “momfluencer” who had one of YouTube’s biggest channels, “8 Passengers,” which documented her and her husband, Kevin, and their six kids.
Franke was arrested on Aug. 30, 2023, on two counts of aggravated child abuse and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Franke’s arrest came after an emaciated child with duct tape around their extremities escaped and ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
Franke’s sisters released a joint statement saying they did everything they could to protect their nieces and nephews “behind the public scene” and that the arrest “needed to happen.”
Through a lawyer, Franke’s husband denied having any part in the abuse.
Franke in court accused one of her own children of sexually abusing a sibling for years.
YouTube has deleted Franke’s account and banned her from the platform.
Although she wasn’t arrested until the late summer, Ruby had been suspected of child abuse for years in light of the way she treated her children on her YouTube channel.
She denied abusing her children after her son Chad said he had been sleeping on a beanbag for seven months and also refused to bring her then-6-year-old daughter lunch because she had forgotten it at home.
Authorities arrested Ruby and Hildebrandt after one of the former’s children ran to a neighbor’s house for help despite having his extremities duct taped and appearing emaciated.
