Ruby Franke admitted to torturing her children by means of starvation, hard labor, and more when she pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in court on Monday.
The plea agreement, obtained by Pvnew, details the crimes that the disgraced YouTube host committed against two of her kids, ages 9 and 11, from May 22 until her arrest on Aug. 30.
Franke’s statement confesses she denied giving her son “adequate water” while forcing him to “stand in the direct sunlight” for several days, which resulted in “repeated and serious sunburns with blistered and sloughing skin.”
She also punished him when he’d secretly drink water and was denied “sufficient food” while others ate regular meals.
When one of her kids attempted to run away in July, the former “8 Passengers” host bound him using handcuffs on his wrists and ankles and then would use a rope to connect the two sets, so his “arms and lower legs were lifted off the ground.”
She also would hold his “head underwater,” suffocate him by covering his nose and mouth, and kick him while wearing boots, the plea states.
Franke, 41, also tried to convince her child that he was “evil and possessed,” and that the punishments were a means for him to “repent.”
She treated one of her daughters the same way, with the mom of six telling her all of these punishments were “acts of love.”
As part of her plea, Franke agreed to testify against her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, who was arrested on the same day.
The disgraced momfluencer handed in her plea while appearing in front of a judge in a Utah court.
“With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty,” she said.
Franke will be sentenced on Feb. 20, 2024. She’s been held in custody without bail since her arrest.
The law firm representing Franke said in a statement that Hildebrandt “systematically isolated” Franke 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.”
