Neighbors are speaking out about the recent arrest of YouTube mom Ruby Franke, who is facing allegations of child abuse after two of her children were allegedly found malnourished, NBC News reports.
Franke, a Utah mother of six kids and creator of the popular “8 Passengers” family YouTube channel, was taken into custody Wednesday.
Authorities say two of Franke’s kids had various open wounds, duct tape on their wrists and ankles and were not being fed sufficiently. One of children was being hospitalized for “deep lacerations from being tied up with rope and malnourishment,” according to court records obtained by ABC4.
People who live near the family’s home in Springville, Utah, say they had long been concerned for the children.
“I’m really angry because I spoke up. Other people spoke up,” an unidentified neighbor told NBC News. “And nothing happened.”
That neighbor said she reported concerns to the Utah Division of Child and Family Services in September 2022. Although a wellness check may have been performed in response, the neighbor said no one at Franke’s home answered the door for authorities.
Franke is accused of punishing her kids by refusing to feed them, a tactic she has shared in now-deleted YouTube videos, according to NBC News. Neighbors also allege that she would leave her kids home alone for weeks at a time.
One neighbor said Franke’s youngest daughter, who is believed to be around 10 years old, has been known to wander around the neighborhood while her mom was away looking for other children to play with. The daughter did this during the day while other neighborhood kids were at school.
Franke allegedly kicked her husband, Kevin, out of the home last year, according to NBC News, citing unnamed sources.
Police arrested Franke at a residence in Ivins, Utah, owned by her business partner, Jodi Hildebrand. It was there where one of the children reportedly climbed out of a window and ran to the home of a neighbor, who called authorities.
Franke, 41, and Hildebrand, 54, face multiple charges of felony aggravated child abuse. As of Sunday, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department listed them as still “in custody.”
Neighbors in Springville, a Provo suburb about 260 miles northeast of Ivins, say they are glad authorities finally took action and want the children to know that the community supports them.
“I want those kids to know that the community loves them and wants them to be safe,” one woman told NBC News. ”If people knew the amount of tears and time spent talking with law enforcement and CPS over the last year — I want people to understand that. And I want those kids to know that because I think they thought they were abandoned.”
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[Feature Photo: Ruby Franke/YouTube]
