The father of Ruby Franke’s children is pinning alleged child abuse on her business partner, claiming that although Franke is facing a slew of child abuse charges, it came after she partnered up with Utah woman, Jodi Hildebrandt.
Attorney Randy Kestner, who represents Franke’s estranged husband, Kevin Franke, told Law&Crime’s Sidebar podcast that Ruby Franke never harmed their six children while they were together. Kester said Kevin Franke was “completely shocked” when he heard the allegations.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police arrested Ruby Franke and Hildebrandt on August 30 after Franke’s malnourished 12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt’s Ivins, Utah, home with duct tape on his ankles and wrists.
The victim went to a neighbor’s home to ask for food and water. That neighbor called the police, leading cops to Hildebrandt’s home, where they allegedly located a 10-year-old child who was also malnourished.
“I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help and he said he just came from a neighbor’s house and you know, there’s been problems at this neighbor’s house,” the neighbor told the dispatcher.
“He’s emaciated, he’s got tape around his legs, he’s hungry and he’s thirsty.”
Ruber Franke, identified as the vlogger behind “8 Passengers” on YouTube, and Hildebrandt were both arrested for six counts of aggravated child abuse.
Kester said that his estranged wife changed when she partnered up with Hildebrandt and blindsided him. Prior to moving in with Hildebrandt, there was no abuse in the family and no allegations of abuse, the lawyer said.
“No physical abuse had never been a part of their family,” Kester said. “But lot of the dynamics between he and his wife changed after Jodi Hildebrandt partnered up with Ruby.”
Kevin Franke reportedly said that he had no idea that Ruby had moved the children to Utah and that, at the time, he was taking direction from her in an attempt to save the marriage, which is why he hadn’t seen the children in months.
“If you read everything that’s in the media, [Kevin’s] getting raked over the coals,” Kester said. “But what people don’t understand is that he was trying to preserve his marriage. He was taking direction from her.”
“She’s the one who asked him to leave the house and indicated that in order for him to be able to get back together with her and be a family, that she was requesting that he leave the home and that he not contact her or the children. She later told him that everything was blissful at home and it was so much better without him.”
Ruby Franke allegedly told Kevin “everything was blissful at home” and “so much better without him.”
“Kevin never had any reason to believe that his children were being abused,” Kester said. “If he had even one inkling that his kids were being abused and that this separation wasn’t for any other purpose than to figure out a way between he and Ruby to reunite their family, he would’ve been down there in two seconds.”
According to court documents, Hildebrandt directly cared for the children, but police suspect Franke was aware of the abuse as she filmed a YouTube video in Hildebrandt’s basement two days before the child escaped the home.
Hildebrand allegedly commented that the children should “never be around any other kids” — further leading police to believe she was aware of the abuse.
The children were taken into state custody, but Kevin Franke is now trying to get custody of the younger children.
“He’s consulting with professionals,” Kester said. “We’re working in conjunction with the state of Utah, through the juvenile court, to take direction from them about what they feel would be necessary to heal his family, and try to figure out a way, if possible, to reunify the family.”
Meanwhile, both defendants remain behind bars without bail.
According to a press release from the Washington County Attorney’s Office, “each defendant is accused of causing or permitting serious physical injury to the victims in three different ways: (1) a combination of multiple physical injuries or torture, (2) starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life, and (3) causing severe emotional harm.”
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[Feature Photo: Franke Rube & children/Instagram]
