Eventually, Franke's four youngest children were taken into state custody.įranke and Hildebrandt were each charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse. The boy and Franke's daughter, who was also found at Hildebrandt's house, were taken to the hospital. he's been detained," the caller said, his voice breaking up. The boy was emaciated and had duct tape around his ankles and wrists but wouldn't say why, the caller reported. 30 after Franke's 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrandt's house in the southern Utah city of Ivins and asked a neighbor to call police, according to the 911 call released by the St. The girl "was convinced" what her mother said was true, the agreement said.įranke and Hildebrandt were arrested on Aug. "She was also repeatedly told she was evil and possessed, the punishments were necessary for her to be obedient and repent, and these things were being done to her in order to help her," the plea agreement said. "He was also told that everything that was being done to him were acts of love," the agreement states.įranke acknowledged similarly abusing her 9-year-old daughter by forcing her to work outside, run on dirt roads barefoot, and go without food and water. He was denied food or given very plain meals, and he was isolated from other people without access to books, notebooks or electronics.Īfter he tried to run away in July, his hands and feet were regularly bound, sometimes with handcuffs.Īt times, ropes were used to tie together handcuffs that secured his hands and feet as he lay on his stomach, lifting his arms and legs off the ground and injuring his wrists and ankles, the plea agreement said.įranke also admitted to kicking her son while wearing boots, holding his head under water and smothering his mouth and nose with her hands, according to the plea agreement. 30 by forcing him into hours of physical tasks, summer work outdoors without adequate water and "repeated and serious sunburns" that blistered. In the plea agreement, Franke admits that she tortured her son from May 22 through Aug. Franke initially believed that her co-defendant Jodi Hildebrandt "had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement," but said that Hildebrandt "took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous." "Ruby Franke is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement," Winward Law said in a statement. Winward Law said in a statement Friday that the abuse occurred while Franke was influenced by a relationship counselor who led her to "a distorted sense of morality." Each charge carries a sentence of one to 15 years in prison. Under Utah law, second-degree aggravated child abuse can be charged if that person knowingly or intentionally inflicts serious physical injury to a child or causes or permits another to inflict serious physical injury to their child. Sentencing would be up to the judge.įranke pleaded not guilty to two other counts, court records said, and was returned to custody after the hearing. Under the plea agreement, Franke agreed to serve a prison term and the sentences will run consecutively. 20 after accepting the plea agreement, which described new details of the abuse the children endured, including the claims that they were possessed. On the fourth, she fought back some emotion before saying: "With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty." Ruby Franke stood shackled in gray and white jail clothing as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before pleading guilty to each of her first three charges. A Utah mother of six who gave parenting advice on YouTube pleaded guilty Monday to child abuse charges and will go to prison for trying to convince her two youngest children they were evil, possessed and needed to be punished to repent.
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