YouTuber's shallow apology to her kids amid claims she was 'manipulated'

21 February 2024 , 11:45

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YouTuber's shallow apology to her kids amid claims she was 'manipulated'

Shamed YouTuber Ruby Franke issued a shallow apology to her kids for physically and emotionally abusing them - before claiming she was "manipulated" by her business partner.

The disgraced mum-of-six, from Utah, shared a tearful apology to her children prior to a judge delivering a sentence that could put her in prison for decades.

Franke told the judge that she would not argue for a shorter sentence before she stood to thank local police officers, doctors, and social workers for being the "angels" who saved her children from her at a time when she says she was under the influence of her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt.

READ MORE: YouTube mum facing 60 years for starving own kids in 'concentration camp' home

Ruby Franke appeared in court in Utah for her sentencing (Law&Crime Network/Youtube)

The Utah mental health counsellor, who had been hired to work with Franke's youngest son before going into business with her, also received four consecutive prison sentences of one to 15 years.

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However, the women will only serve up to 30 years in prison due to a Utah state law that caps the sentence duration for consecutive penalties. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will consider their behavior while incarcerated and determine how much of that time each will spend behind bars.

"I'll never stop crying for hurting your tender souls," Franke said to her children during the hearing in St. George. "My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you all that was soft and safe and good."

Franke referred to her children as her 'six little chicks' (Instagram)

Franke, 42, and Hildebrandt, 54, had each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse for trying to convince Franke's two youngest children that they were evil, possessed, and needed to be punished to repent. The women were arrested at Hildebrandt's house in the southern Utah city of Ivins last August after Franke's 12-year-old son escaped through a window and asked a neighbor to call the police, according to a 911 call released by the St. George Police Department.

Shari Franke revealed she's dealt with serious mental health struggles following her mother's arrest (sharilfranke/Instagram)

The boy was thin, covered in wounds and had duct tape around his ankles and wrists. He told investigators that Hildebrandt had put ropes on his limbs and used cayenne pepper and honey to dress his cuts, according to a search warrant.

State prosecuting attorney Eric Clarke described the environment in which Franke and Hildebrandt had kept the kids as "a concentration camp-like setting," a term most strongly associated with the camps established by the Nazis to starve, overwork and execute Jewish people and other minorities across Europe during the Holocaust.

While Franke has shown remorse and cooperated with lawyers, Clarke said, Hildebrandt has not and continues to place blame on the children. Hildebrandt's attorney, Douglas Terry, said during the livestreamed hearing that his client is not the remorseless woman she has been portrayed to be and accepts responsibility for her actions.

In a brief statement, Hildebrandt stopped short of apologising but said she loves the children and wants them to heal. She reminded Judge John J. Walton that she accepted her plea deal instead of going to trial because she did not want the children to have to relive their trauma by testifying.

Liam Buckler