Warning: The following contains descriptions of child abuse. To find out the number to report abuse in your state, click here.
(NewsNation) — Utah mom and former YouTube creator Ruby Franke pleaded guilty Monday to four counts of second-degree felony aggravated child abuse, NewsNation local affiliate KTVX reported.
The other two counts Ruby Franke, 41, had initially been charged with were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, KTVX writes.
Judge John J. Walton accepted the plea deal, and scheduled Ruby Frank’s sentencing for Feb. 20.
“We are pleased that Mrs. Franke has accepted responsibility for her criminal actions and that justice is being served to the extent possible in this type of situation,” Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke said.
During court, Franke pleaded individually to all counts, saying on the fourth she pleads, “with my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty.”
Ruby and her husband, Kevin Franke, once gave parenting advice on the popular “8 Passengers” YouTube channel. Critics of the channel said Ruby Franke was openly abusing her children via this platform, and that she showed her children in vulnerable moments.
The channel was removed from YouTube this year. After that, Franke began a new venture with business partner Jodi Hildebrandt called ConneXions Classroom, which was focused on counseling.
Winward Law announced in a statement over the weekend that Franke was taking the plea deal. The statement said the abuse happened while she was under Hildebrandt’s influence. As part of the plea deal, Franke agreed to testify against Hildebrandt, who has also been charged with child abuse.
“Ruby Franke is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement,” Winward Law said in a statement reported on by the Associated Press. While Ruby Franke initially believed her business partner was offering her a path to “continual improvement,” the statement says Hildebrandt “took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous.”
The statement accuses Hildebrandt of systemically isolating Ruby Franke from her extended family, older children and husband.
Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested on Aug. 30, after one of the latter’s neighbors called 911 when Franke’s 12-year-old son climbed out of a window and ran to their house asking for food and water.
Neighbors noticed duct tape on the boy’s ankles, and he was taken to the hospital for lacerations from being tied up with rope.
According to a search warrant, the 12-year-old told investigators Hildebrandt put the ropes on his ankles and wrists, and that cayenne pepper and honey were used to dress wounds caused by the ropes.
“I think he’s been … he’s been detained,” the neighbor told 911 in the call released by the St. George Police Department. “He’s obviously covered in wounds.”
Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was also found at Hildebrandt’s house and the siblings were taken to the hospital.
The plea agreement detailed other instances where the children were forced to work outside in the summer heat without shoes, remaining outside at all hours of the day and night. This resulted in “repeated and serious” sunburns, where their skin would blister and peel, the plea agreement said.
Both children were denied food and water, according to the plea deal, and told they were “evil” and “possessed” and needed to repent. In addition, the plea agreement states Ruby Franke would kick her son while wearing boots, hold his head underwater and cut off his oxygen by placing her hands over his mouth and nose.
Two other children were located in the Franke home, and all four children were taken into custody.
Neighbors in Ruby Franke’s neighborhood said they had repeatedly called police with concerns about the kids, who they said appeared to be left alone without an adult.
Hildebrandt’s next court hearing is set for Dec. 27, according to court records. Her attorney did not respond to a request for comment by NewsNation.
Kevin Franke has filed for divorce. His lawyer, Randy Kester, denied in an interview on “CUOMO” that Kevin Franke had any role in the abuse.
“Mom had the kids for the summer and went out of the county with the kids, and if he had known of or thought there was abuse going on, he would have been all over it,” Kester said.
It is not clear why Franke and two of the children were staying with Hildebrandt.
“Ms. Franke is committed to taking responsibility for the part she played in the events leading up to her incarceration,” her lawyer’s statement said.
NewsNation digital producer Steph Whiteside and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
