Prosecutors say new video, documents show ‘religious extremism’ motivated parent blogger Ruby Franke’s abuse of children

Earlier this week, the Washington County Attorney's Office made public multiple videos and documents pertaining to the child abuse investigation surrounding well-known parent blogger Ruby Franke.

The records, such as Franke's personal diary, illustrate why the prosecutors believe that Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, carried out terrible mistreatment on Franke's offspring due to their "religious extremism."

Franke admitted to committing four instances of extreme mistreatment towards her children, which led to her getting charged with aggravated child abuse last December. Her heinous acts were recorded in vlogs that were previously accessible on the "8 Passengers" YouTube channel, but are now removed. Though she faced six counts of child abuse, she only owned up to four in exchange for testifying against her colleague as part of a plea bargain.

According to the prosecutors, Hildebrandt accepted her responsibility by agreeing with them and pleaded guilty to four charges of severe mistreatment of children.

A recently uncovered video, which was shared by the attorney's office last Friday, exhibits Franke's 12-year-old child. The youngster had climbed out of the window of Hildebrandt's residence on August 30, 2023. The footage depicts the child knocking on a neighbor's door and pleading for food and water. Franke's arrest report states that the child appeared to be malnourished and wounded.

According to the neighbor's statement, the young boy known as 'R' requested assistance and asked to be moved to the closest police station. The neighbor then called 911 and mentioned that the child's ankles and wrists were secured with duct tape.

The young person was rushed to the medical facility by emergency responders, and then placed under medical observation due to their serious injuries caused by being restrained with rope and their poor physical condition. These details were recorded in Franke's report of the arrest.

After receiving the call, the officers searched Hildebrandt's house and came across Franke's 9-year-old daughter hiding in a closet. She was frightened and starving as well, as mentioned by the Washington County Attorney's Office.

The journal that Franke wrote by hand, which also had some parts taken out, was disclosed on Friday. It contains descriptions of various types of mistreatment that lasted for months. These abuses included forcing the youngsters to remain standing or sleep outside, making them hold a position against a wall, shaving off the hair of one of the girls, and sometimes denying them access to water, food, or air.

In a blog post from July 11, 2023, Franke recounted an incident where she instructed someone identified as "R" to stand under the sun wearing a hat for protection. However, the person refused and exhibited defiance. Franke continued to insist on the instruction, but the individual, or their inner demon, chose to remain in the shade. In a different blog entry, Franke mentioned that she had a conversation with "R" about their need for a spiritual connection with God. She extended an invitation to the person to consider fasting and praying as a means to achieve this.

Franke stated that making choices that align with the practices of Satan can result in being without money or resources, even if one comes from a wealthy household.

According to the summary presented by the attorney's office, the women seemed to firmly believe that the mistreatment they subjected the children to was crucial in educating them about how to repent for non-existent "wrongdoings" and in freeing their bodies from malevolent entities.

In the report of the incident, it was stated that Kevin Franke, the father of the two children, said he was wedded to Ruby but they are no longer together. He was unaware that they were residing with Hildebrandt and had not had any communication or sight of them for a year.

In February, CNN reported that Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were both given a punishment of four back-to-back sentences, with each sentence ranging from one to 15 years, and sent to a jail in Utah. Currently, the duration of their imprisonment is being managed by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, as Utah has laws that allow for indefinite sentencing. This information was announced by the lawyer's office.

CNN has contacted their legal representatives to provide their perspective on the evidence disclosure released by the Washington County Attorney's Office last Friday.

The report was written with contributions from Sara Smart, Keith Allen, and Laura Studley, who work for CNN.