Prosecuting attorney Eric Clarke described the environment in which Franke and Hildebrandt kept the children as a “concentration camp-like place.”
While Frank showed remorse and cooperated with attorneys, Hildebrandt did not and continued to blame the children, Clark said. Hildebrandt's attorney, Douglas Terry, said during the live-streamed hearing that his client was not the tough woman she was portrayed to be, and accepted responsibility for her actions.
Judy Hildebrandt attends last year's hearing.credit: St. George News/AP
In a brief statement, Hildebrandt stopped short of apologizing, but said she loved the children and wanted them to recover. She reminded Judge John Walton that she accepted the plea deal rather than go to trial because she did not want the children to have to relive the trauma they experienced by testifying.
Hildebrandt pleaded guilty last December to four of the six counts of child abuse, and two counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal. Frankie also pleaded guilty to four of the six charges against her, and not guilty to two.
Frankie and her husband Kevin took off Frankie 8 passengers on YouTube in 2015 and amassed a large following as they documented their experiences raising six children. She later began working with Hildebrandt's consulting company ConneXions Classroom, where she presented parenting seminars, launched another YouTube channel and posted content on their joint Instagram account, “Moms of Truth.”
In her plea agreement, Frankie admitted to kicking her son while he was wearing a shoe, holding his head under water and covering his mouth and nose with her hands. She and Hildebrandt said they also forced him to work for hours in the summer heat without much food or water, causing dehydration and scorching sunburns. The boy was told everything that happened to him was an act of love, according to the plea agreements.
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Hildebrandt also admitted to forcing Frank's youngest daughter, who was 9 at the time, to jump into cacti several times and run barefoot on dirt roads until her feet blistered. The boy and girl were taken to the hospital after the arrests and were placed in state custody with two other of their siblings.
Before her arrest in 2023, Ruby Franke was already a divisive figure in the world of parenting vlogs. Frankie's parents have been criticized online for some of their parenting decisions, including banning their eldest son from his bedroom for seven months for pranking his younger brother. In other video clips, Ruby Frankie talked about refusing to eat lunch for a kindergarten girl who had forgotten it at home, and threatening to cut off the head of a little girl's stuffed toy as punishment for cutting things at home.
the 8 passengers The YouTube channel has since ended, and Kevin Frank has filed for divorce.
Frank and Hildebrandt each have 30 days to appeal their sentences.
AP
