After YouTuber Ruby Franke formed a friendship with Jodi Hildebrandt, the duo were arrested for child abuse — but where do they stand now?
Hildebrandt, who was the focus of a February 2025 episode of Investigation Discovery’s The Curious Case series, got her start as a Utah-based therapist. She later founded ConneXions, which is a program that offered marital, parenting and life counseling — usually to fellow Mormons.
Before they crossed paths, Ruby reached YouTube stardom in 2015 when she started her own channel with now-estranged husband Kevin Franke. The former couple and their six children — Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve — were the focus of daily vlogs that showcased Ruby’s days as a stay-at-home mom.
Ruby and Hildebrandt became friends in 2019 after connecting through their church. From there, Ruby and Kevin started attending ConneXions classes, but their marriage subsequently fell apart. Ruby and Hildebrandt started to live together with Ruby’s children until they were arrested.
In 2023, Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse. The arrest came after Ruby’s youngest son, who was 12 years old at the time, escaped from Hildebrandt’s home and asked for help from a neighbor.
Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse in December 2023 and admitted that she tortured her children. As part of the plea deal, she agreed to serve a prison term and agreed that her sentences would run consecutively. She also agreed to testify against Hildebrandt, who pleaded guilty.
Keep scrolling for a breakdown of Ruby and Hildebrandt’s friendship — including revelations about their connection from Investigation Discovery’s The Curious Case series:
2019
Four years after Ruby created her “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, she connected with Hildebrandt through their church. The host of “Hidden Crime” podcast Lauren Matthias revealed in ID’s February 2025 special that Ruby and Kevin were “seeking a therapist for their oldest son” when Hildebrandt was recommended to them.
The true crime series included audio of Kevin’s voice, who said, “Jodi always had a larger interest in communicating with the parents more than with the actual patient. Her theory was that if you want to help your child, you have to help yourself first.”
2020
Ruby came under fire in 2020 when her followers grew concerned about her parenting. They created an online petition asking child protective services to investigate the Franke family due to YouTube videos where they discussed taking their eldest son Chad’s bed away for months as punishment and refusing to bring their then-6-year-old daughter lunch at school after she forgot to pack it herself.
Insider reported that Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services visited the Franke residence and interviewed the children for two hours. The case was dropped due to lack of evidence for the allegations.
“What people aren’t understanding is that we give our children choice in everything,” Ruby told the outlet at the time. “We are teaching our children to be self-governing.”
2021
As Ruby went from Hildebrandt’s patient to her friend, she transitioned her YouTube channel into the “Moms of Truth” account. Hildebrandt ultimately moved into Ruby and Kevin’s home, which he recounted in Investigation Discovery’s special.
“The moment she showed up at my house, the weirdest crap started happening. Lights turning on and off,” Kevin recalled in an audio clip. “It was weird and I hated it. Ruby started to check up on her at night. It started every four hours to every hour, and at some point Ruby started sleeping in there. That was that. They started sleeping in the same bed.”
Another podcast host speculated about Ruby and Hildebrandt’s bond, saying, “There was financial attraction and emotional attraction and psychological attraction. Was Jodi literally fighting with her own demons and preaching against sexual misconduct and yet being constantly tormented as a closeted lesbian? I am speculating there but those dots all connect.”
Ruby and Hildebrandt have not publicly addressed the claims about their personal lives. Ruby’s daughter Shari spoke out about the “strange relationship” between her mother and Hildebrandt after releasing her memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom.
“I never saw anything specific about that,” she said on the Today show in January 2025. Shari wrote in her memoir that she found messages on Ruby’s laptop after her arrest that “confirmed for me the truth about the nature of her relationship with Jodi and how it had spilled over into the physical.”
2022
Ruby and Kevin separated at Hildebrandt’s suggestion as a way to save their marriage. As a result, Kevin was told to move out of their home and lost communication with his wife and children. Ruby joined Hildebrandt’s “ConneXions” podcast, where they shared their extremely strict parenting philosophies.
Later that year, Ruby and Hildebrandt moved her four youngest children 300 miles away to Utah. Ruby and Hildebrandt started to punish her two youngest kids while living in Hildebrandt’s home. According to Investigation Discovery’s documentary, weeks before their arrest, Ruby and Hildebrandt were shopping for remote ranch land in Arizona.
2023
Ruby’s then-12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt’s residence in August 2023 and got a neighbor to call the police about his emaciated condition. Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse.
The Curious Case series included a recording of Ruby’s phone call from prison two days after her arrest, in which she said, “Poor Jodi. She puts her neck out on the line for people and then they get mad at her. It is just horrendous.”
2023
Both Ruby and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and were sentenced to between 4 and 60 years in prison. They won’t serve over 30 years due to a Utah law relating to consecutive sentences.
“I took from you all that was soft, and safe, and good,” Ruby said ahead of her sentencing. “I took from you your mother. How terrifying this must have been for you. I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls. You’re so precious to me. I’m sorry.”
2024
In a recording of Ruby’s call from prison months after her arrest, she changed her tune about Hildebrandt, saying, “This has been the strangest and the most miraculous intervention. It put everyone where they needed to be. It separated me from Jodi so I am not hearing her. I think not hearing her has cleared a lot of things up for me.”
Hildebrandt’s prison audio was also recorded, where she defended herself and said Ruby’s son “did that to himself” when discussing his extensive injuries.
2024
YouTube has banned Ruby and Hildebrandt and deleted the channels associated with their names. Hildebrandt’s counseling license was frozen following their arrest.
Ruby’s estranged husband, Kevin, is seeking custody of his children. He subsequently sued Hildebrandt for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligence for him and his children.
“It is a lot to deal with every day, the questions of what if, what could have been done, what should have happened, what I should have done, what others should have done, it haunts you,” Kevin told Utah’s KSL after filing a petition for divorce.
2025
Ruby is currently serving a 4 to 30 year sentence at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. She won’t appear before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole — which determines the exact length of her sentence — until December 2026. The same applies for Hildebrandt, who is also serving her 4 to 30 year sentence at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
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