Ruby Franke Trial: Abuse Charges, Plea Deal, and Sentencing

The Ruby Franke trial ended before it began. On December 18, 2023, the Utah YouTuber pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree felony aggravated child abuse in Utah’s Fifth Judicial District Court, and on February 20, 2024, Judge John J. Walton sentenced her to four consecutive terms of one to 15 years in prison, a maximum aggregate of 30 years.¹ Her co-defendant, licensed mental health counselor Jodi Hildebrandt, received the same sentence. Both women are incarcerated at the Utah State Correctional Facility, and both have their first parole hearings scheduled for December 2026.

How the Case Began

On August 30, 2023, Franke’s 12-year-old son climbed out of a window at Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins, Utah, and ran to a neighbor’s house asking to be taken to the police. The neighbor found the boy severely thin, hungry, and thirsty, with duct tape around his wrists and ankles and open wounds on his extremities, and called 911, telling the dispatcher the child had “obviously been detained.”²

When officers reached the house, they found Franke’s 9-year-old daughter hiding in a closet, malnourished and terrified.³ Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested hours later. Each was initially charged with six counts of felony aggravated child abuse.²

What the Charges Described

Court filings, police reports, and Franke’s own handwritten journals set out the conduct behind the charges. Prosecutors described the conditions as “concentration camp-like.”⁴ Investigators called the setting “work-camp like.” The two children were regularly denied food, water, and beds. They were forced to carry loaded boxes up and down stairs, perform wall sits for hours, and do outdoor manual labor in extreme summer heat without shoes. They were made to stand on a cement patio for hours, sometimes days.⁵

They were physically restrained with rope, duct tape, and plastic wrap. When police removed duct tape from one child, skin came off with it. Wounds were treated with cayenne pepper and honey rather than proper medical care.⁶ The 12-year-old boy was bound hand and foot after an earlier escape attempt. The 9-year-old girl had her head shaved.⁷ Both children were hidden from visitors and prohibited from interacting with anyone outside the household.⁵

Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke said the abuse was driven by “religious extremism.” Prosecutors said both women “appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined ‘sins’ and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies.”⁴

A 60-page handwritten journal released by prosecutors documented Franke’s own account of specific acts. She described her son as being possessed by a “demon” and labeled July 11, 2023, a “big day for evil.” On that day, she wrote about pushing him into a pool and holding her hand “tightly over his nose & mouth,” claiming she was trying to “help the boy.” She described forcing him into the sun and using a “cactus poker” on his neck and back to keep him in place. She wrote about forcing her daughter to stand in the rain for two hours, cutting off her hair, and dousing her with water in the “dog wash.”⁸ Entries also recorded children being whipped with a belt for what she called “deviant behavior.”⁶

The Plea Deal

Two of Franke’s original six counts were dropped as part of her plea agreement.⁹ She agreed to testify truthfully against Hildebrandt, and in exchange, the Washington County Attorney’s Office agreed to remain neutral at future parole hearings.¹⁰ Because Franke pleaded, there was no jury trial.

Hildebrandt pleaded guilty independently to four counts of aggravated child abuse nine days later, on December 27, 2023.⁵ Her plea was not contingent on Franke’s testimony.

The Sentence

Judge Walton imposed the maximum available: four consecutive terms of one to 15 years for each woman. Under Utah’s indeterminate sentencing laws, the actual time served is set by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, up to the aggregate 30-year cap.¹

Franke addressed the court and her children at the hearing. She said she took “full accountability” and called the charges “just.” She told her children: “I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong. I took from you all that was soft, and safe, and good. I took from you, your mother.” She also said her “willingness to sacrifice all” for her children had been “masterfully manipulated” by Hildebrandt, and thanked the arresting officer, saying the moment she was handcuffed “was the moment I gained my freedom.”¹¹

Judge Walton’s remarks were pointed, particularly toward Hildebrandt. He told her that her conduct “was disastrous for these children” and that her philosophy in dealing with them “seems detached from reality or any objective standard of decency or even common sense.”¹¹

Hildebrandt’s Role and Her Attempt to Withdraw

Hildebrandt was a licensed clinical mental health counselor who founded a life-coaching program called ConneXions, marketed primarily within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community. She began counseling the Franke family around 2019. The therapist-client relationship became a business partnership and living arrangement: Hildebrandt moved into the Franke home and eventually pushed Kevin Franke out, convincing Ruby to separate from her husband. By 2022, Hildebrandt and Ruby had relocated with four of the Franke children to Ivins, about 300 miles from the family’s previous home. Together they produced content under the “Moms of Truth” brand, advocating strict parenting and severing ties with “difficult” children.¹²

Following her conviction, the Utah Division of Professional Licensing revoked Hildebrandt’s counseling license in May 2024.¹³ In March 2025, she filed a petition to withdraw her guilty plea, claiming her rights were not properly explained to her.¹⁴

Kevin Franke, Custody, and Civil Litigation

Kevin Franke, a former engineering professor at Brigham Young University, was not charged. His legal team said he had separated from Ruby more than a year before her arrest and had no knowledge of what was happening to the children.¹⁵ He filed for divorce on November 30, 2023, and the divorce was finalized in March 2025 with Kevin receiving full custody of the four minor children.¹⁶

Kevin also sued Hildebrandt, alleging medical malpractice, gross negligence, and deceit. The suit contends that Hildebrandt, while serving as his counselor, misrepresented herself as a psychologist, diagnosed him with fabricated personality deficiencies, and used his religious beliefs to manipulate him into severing ties with his family. An initial version was dismissed on procedural grounds and re-filed as a medical malpractice action.¹⁷ As of late 2025, Hildebrandt had not responded to the suit.¹⁸

Where Things Stand

Franke is housed in the women’s general population unit at the Utah State Correctional Facility, with no listed disciplinary actions, and is reportedly working toward a degree.¹⁹ Hildebrandt is at the same facility, in a separate section.

Both women’s first parole hearings are set for December 2026. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has ordered the Department of Corrections to complete a mental health evaluation for each of them by November 1, 2026, and both must participate in cognitive behavioral therapy before the hearing. The Board’s spokesperson has said the initial hearing does not produce an immediate decision; the Board may set a parole date, schedule a rehearing, or require additional programming.²⁰ If Franke serves the maximum sentence, her release date would be August 30, 2053.¹⁹

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NBC News. Ruby Franke Sentenced in Child Abuse Case
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Deseret News. Ruby Franke 8 Passengers 911 Call
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USA Today. Ruby Franke Child Escape Video Released
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News10. Youtuber Ruby Franke’s Child Abuse Case Rooted in Religious Extremism
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Washington County Attorney. Utah vs Franke Hildebrandt
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Fox 13 Now. Evidence Released Shows Severity of Abuse in Franke and Hildebrandt Case
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CNN. Ruby Franke Child Abuse Police Video
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NBC News. Ruby Franke’s Journals Detailing Abuse
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Fox 11. Franke Hearing Live Updates
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KTXS. Ruby Franke’s Plea Deal
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Today. Ruby Franke Sentencing
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People. Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke Relationship
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Utah Division of Professional Licensing. DOPL Case 2024-96 Final Findings
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Biography.com. Who Is Jodi Hildebrandt
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Biography.com. Ruby Franke Kids and Husband Now
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CBS Austin. Franke Hildebrandt Initial Pardons Parole Hearings Scheduled for 2026