Starved In A McMansion: An American Horror Story

[NotHardUp1]

Ruby & Kevin Franke, and Jodi Hildebrandt.

A case study in child abuse, community denial, religious fanaticism, and greed.

Two years ago, YouTube shut down her channel after numerous viewers reported suspected child abuse. The channel in question was 8 Passengers. After YT shut it down, Rubi Franke moved over to a Vlog named ConneXions, a parenting vlog hosted by a former licensed counselor, Jodi Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt lost her license (in Utah) when she reported to the LDS on a patient who had a porn addiction, a member of the LDS.

Ruby Franke's videos feature her parenting and disciplining her six children. This was hugely popular in her native Utah and elsewhere, with over two million followers.

All this came to a head last summer when a neighbor of Jodi Hildebrandt opened the door and a 12-year-old, emaciated, duct-taped Russell Franke appeared and begged for food and water. He had escaped the Hildebrandt home and reported his two sisters were being held there. The police were called and the whole thing unraveled. Children had been starved, beaten, deprived of water, told they were possessed of demons, and physically and mentally abused, all the while their moms were broadcasting to the world how parenting should be done.

Kevin Franke was not charged, so it remains unclear how his children were so abused without his knowledge or complicity. He appears to not be charged because the 2nd Degree Felony charges were against Ruby & Jodi for the abuse found to occur in Hildebrandt's home, not at the Franke domicile. Jodi seems to have been leading Franke to isolate and abuse the children, which included imprisoning them in the Hildebrandt home.

Sentencing is supposed to happen this week for Ruby Franke. Although we cannot assume what the father knew, the abuse Ruby is charged with evidently occurred more recently, so maybe was a really bad reaction to a tween becoming incorrigible and a witness and cruel pair of adults who resorted to abuse and torture instead of good parenting, to control a child who was becoming a teen and uncontrollable.

What I take away from this is how many times variations of this extreme occur across the world, as children become pre-adults and authoritarians go overboard when they can no longer control them. It doesn't require religious fanaticism, but it sure seems to help in equivocating about the why the child "deserves it."

A Timeline of Ruby Franke's Rise and Fall: From Family Vlogger to Convicted Child Abuser

Parenting advice vlogger Ruby Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse.

people.com

Law & Crime Network on Franke

Ruby Franke pleads guilty to child abuse charges

Utah parenting influencer Ruby Franke pleaded guilty Monday to four counts of aggravated child abuse, nearly four months after her Aug. 30 arrest.

www.sltrib.com

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[Peloso]

Raising children can be too much for some parents. At a certain point, some parents can react to the stress by turning into overzealous authoritarians or seeking some sort of skewered spiritual help. Suddenly the child is at odds with the financial strain needed to sustain them, or demons, or simply their parent's egos. Kids don't understand these concepts, which is how the damage begins to seep in.

Even the best of parents make mistakes, which means there's a whole universe of middle ground here, where abuse, both physical and psychological, becomes obscured by gray areas and ideas of what is too extreme and what isn't. Social media to the rescue!

Admittedly, I didn't look at the links because it's a nice sunny day and I don't want or need to delve deeper into such horror today.

How many people here can say that their upbringing was flawless and that they've always felt well adjusted?

I wonder what role social media sites played in perpetuating this abuse? Did these people splay their parenting "skills" all over the internet as a way to make up for the abuse or vice versa? I believe the latter is quite possible and, considering the nature of these kind of people, even kind of likely.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

It was 1974 when my neighbor across the street, Joe Brooks Sr., found a little girl picking through the garbage can at the back of his house. Her name was Cassandra and she lived just a few houses down our street. Joe Brooks said Cassandra looked like loose skin hanging from bone, the little girl was obviously starving. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks took care of Cassandra until Social Services could assess the home situation with Cassandra's parents.

Mr. & Mrs. Brooks were well past 70 years of age and were not eligible to be part of the foster care system. Cassandra's story brought shame on my neighborhood that a child can be starving and no one had any clue that this situation was happening.

 

[rareboy]

I will come back to this. Later.

I had a tenant who murdered his 4 month old baby in my property.

So any stories about neglect or abuse bring back some horrifying memories.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

I apologize. This situation in 1974 was my first wake up slap that I needed to open my eyes and face reality.

 

[NotHardUp1]

One odd aspect is the fact that Ruby Franke's sisters suspected abuse and were eager to get the children out of her care, yet they never reported anything, and may not have suspected this extreme abuse.

Another weird angle is that the mother accused multiple children of demon possession, yet LDS doesn't really ascribe to that line of thinking like Fundamentalists (and rarely Catholics) do. It just seemed a convenient whipping boy to cite as an explanation for a pre-teen out of control or command.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Is the Ruby Franke sentencing still scheduled to take place on the 20th? She could be put away for life.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Haven't seen any update.

 

[unloadonme]

The sentence is 4 to 60 years in prison.

Ruby Franke: Parenting advice YouTuber given maximum sentence for child abuse

The former influencer is sentenced to between four and 60 years in prison for abusing her children.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[NotHardUp1]

The news here stated it as Franke received "up to 30 years" and Hildebrandt the same. Both are subject to less time via a parole board.

Franke's apology to her children was tearfully maudlin, and she referred to them as her "chicks", and the oldest 20. Not sure how many moms of any sort refer to 20-year-olds as "chicks" when not facing sentencing.

The TV networks seem to all be saying 30, but I found plenty of links saying 60. Odd.

Live updates: Ruby Franke, the mom YouTuber behind '8 Passengers,' is sentenced for child abuse

Ruby Franke, a Utah mom who created the YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” pleaded guilty to child abuse. She and counselor Jodi Hildebrandt are being sentenced.

www.today.com

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Yes, this is a very complex sentencing.
Ruby Franke, was sentenced to four prison terms, of between one year and 15 years each.

The circumstances are so horrifying to me that I expected the judge to rule an effective "death sentence". However, Utah state law caps the sentence duration for consecutive penalties, and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole consider prisoner behavior while incarcerated to determine how much of that time will be behind bars.

Amazing - the Utah Parole Board could have Ruby at home in just a few years!

 

[NotHardUp1]

Yes, this is a very complex sentencing.
Ruby Franke, was sentenced to four prison terms, of between one year and 15 years each.

The circumstances are so horrifying to me that I expected the judge to rule an effective "death sentence". However, Utah state law caps the sentence duration for consecutive penalties, and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole consider prisoner behavior while incarcerated to determine how much of that time will be behind bars.

Amazing - the Utah Parole Board could have Ruby at home in just a few years!

Thanks for researching. I think some "print" journalists stopped with the "four consecutive sentences" bit and didn't do due diligence to learn that they are capped in toto.

As for her possible parole much sooner, I'm not actually against that due to the limited nature of the crime. I don't think she intended to starve the son to death, but let her ill-informed view of parenting to too far, and that should be punished, but to what degree? If Kevin Franke and his lawyer are to be believed, the real excesses occurred recently and out of his view or observance. The clip that news keeps showing is her stating the kids had to do some chore (undone) before being allowed to eat. That's not really unusual or extreme when it is just a delay of hours, not days.

As her children are of ages that they are likely to reach majorities before she will be paroled, and her imprisonment may be MORE traumatic for them than her mistreatment was, the parole board may release her in only six or eight years.

I'm sure that the mixed motivation of using monetized social media will be addressed on her release, i.e., a condition will be to not appear on any form of social medial for a long number of years, possibly until her sentence is expired, which is both reasonable and fair. She should not be allowed a platform again due to her crimes involving it.

 

[NotHardUp1]

One aspect that remains to be seen is what the LDS will do with the case.

Will they remain silent, to avoid any entanglement of the LDS and its teachings about parenting authority and discipline?

Will it disavow the misapplication by Hildebrandt and Franke?

Without having the local knowledge, it seems like these were actually a sort of Jack Mormon, but not in the traditional use of the term. They aren't likely to have been active in their local ward meetings, as an emaciated boy would have gotten the attention he deserved.

And, it doesn't seem likely the Frankes were meeting with their bishop annually as required to get their temple permits, as they would have possibly had a difficult time getting through the questioning that is part of the annual interrogation.

I did find a site that discussed the LDS involvement somewhat, and it addressed the culpability of the LDS paying for about 80% of Hildebrandt's counseling referrals. The link is here, but it is obviously not professional journalism (they misspell both Hildebrandt's and Franke's names in multiple ways): https://audioboom.com/posts/8370473...ectly-fund-alleged-child-abuse-mommy-bloggers

Remember, Hildebrandts was de-licensed for 18 mos. in the past, both for sharing confidential counselor private information on a client with the LDS clergy, AND for allowing a counselee who was not licensed, to practice in her clinic without revealing the couselee was not a licensed practicioner. Really dodgy. https://www.abc4.com/news/8-passeng...ng-sensitive-information-court-documents-say/

I trust the Salt Lake Tribune or some SLC author will follow up and write a more complete profile of what happened and how LDS treats it. The pattern is that LDS doesn't give statements because they don't have to. It's a totally authoritarian hierarchy.

 

[NotHardUp1]

There is another aspect of this case that I haven't read anything on yet.

The conviction and sentencing were very likely affected by the celebrity and subsequent notoriety of the vloggers. I'm sure that means some enterprising lawyer will eventually propose a defense that alleged exaggerated sentencing due to social media should be reduced in the interest of fairness.

It may have already been argued, with or without a name for the defense, but I'm sure it will if it has not already.

I hope it fares no better than the Affluenza Defense.

 

[rareboy]

She makes me want to vomit.

As soon as I saw that she was a Vlogger...about child raising....All the red flags went up.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Yes, online parenting advice - just the thought of it gives me pause!

 

[NotHardUp1]

In fairness to YouTube and their ilk, millions upon millions of people get great counsel on anything from how to install French drains to growing tips to car repair.

I'm not against anyone giving or finding guidance online. But, adults are culpable for following and for giving bad advice. Just because someone has hundreds, thousands, or even millions of followers, doesn't make the content true or wise. Donald Trump's minions are People's Exhibit #1.

We all make mistakes, but denial isn't a mistake. It's denial. No one taping a child for restrainst is being honest with self. It was true when Joan Crawford ordered her nanny to tie her chidren in their chairs, and it's true today.

Sadly, fools also abound. Yesterday, a family from Indiana lost their 7-yr.-old daughter when a pit she and her 9-yr.-old brother were allowed to dig on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. The news said the pit was approximately 5-ft. deep when the walls collapsed, trapping the girl and pinning the boy. The boy was ony waist-deep, but the girl beneath him. It took 15 minutes to excavate her with a group of men digging. She died at the hospital.

Imagine letting children dig a pit in sand, not even solid earth. Why not give them guns to test fire? Or have a Slap-the-Pitbull contest to measure dogs' self-control?

 

[EddMarkStarr]

The story of the sister and brother digging a hole on the beach gave me chills. In my childhood, the beaches around the Virginia Tidewater area were well supplied with navy personnel. For us kids on the beach, it was like having every adult as mom and dad. Very aggressive lectures on beach etiquette, but that was 60 years ago.

None of the beach goers, not just the parents, seemed aware of the danger the children were creating.

 

[NotHardUp1]

None of the beach goers, not just the parents, seemed aware of the danger the children were creating.

One must wonder if it was the beachgoers being unaware, or that they assumed the parents were supervising and would intervene if it got too deep.

Additionally, we have demonized strangers through media hysteria over the past decades to the point where speaking to the children is taboo, and telling the parents anything about how to supervise their spawn is equally taboo.

So, there may be a very real "live and let die" ethos at work. Heroic efforts were made to save the children, but maybe someone should have spoken up and risked this pique heaped upon the buttinsky.

If no one saw danger, then it's probably just de-evolution at work and we're overpopulating so doomed to see more of this Darwinian winnowing.