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ST. GEORGE — Ruby Franke, a Springville mom who had over 2 million YouTube followers on a family-based channel, appeared virtually before a St. George judge on Friday for an initial court appearance as thousands of people tried tuning in to watch her.
Franke — best known for her YouTube channel "8 Passengers" — is accused of restraining her two youngest children with duct tape and starving them in Jodi Hildebrandt's home in Ivins, Washington County. She was arrested after police say her son climbed out a window with duct tape on his ankles and wrists and asked a neighbor for food and water.
Hildebrandt, 54, appeared before the judge right after Franke did — both from a room in Purgatory Correctional Facility — wearing orange-and-white striped jumpsuits.
Franke and Hildebrandt, a licensed clinical mental health counselor, are each charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. The judge on Friday ordered both to be held without bail pending trial.
The women were running the YouTube channel and a company called Connexions Classroom, or ConneXions. YouTube took the ConneXions and 8 Passengers channels down after their arrests.
Case draws thousands
The hearing is likely the most attended since Utah began widely using WebEx to conduct remote court hearings. The court was still letting people into the virtual room until well over half an hour after the hearing was scheduled to begin.
The court asked people to mute and turn off their cameras while people were still being let in, but that didn't stop many comments — mostly comments telling other people to mute their microphones.
On Twitter, the Utah courts account said there were over 1,000 people in the room and many more trying to get in — and that was well before they began the hearing. Multiple people were kicked out of the virtual room before the hearing started, including KSL reporters, as the court tried to handle the volume.
Law and Crime Network tried to stream the hearing on its YouTube channel where over 40,000 people were watching the WebEx room, but its stream stopped before the hearing started when it was kicked off. A moderator said the site would try to get back on, but its stream never resumed.
Fifth District Judge Eric Gentry granted a request from both Franke's attorney and the prosecutor to transfer her case to the same judge who will be hearing Hildebrant's case — Judge John Walton.
Attorneys for both women said they intend to file motions soon to address the decision denying them bail in the case.
Not the first hearing
There is some evidence to indicate that Franke's problems have been around for a while, including an ongoing case in juvenile court.
Officers responded to the Franke home in Springville 14 times between April 2020 and August 2023; five of those visits were to assist the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
One was a call initiated by Franke's adult daughter who was concerned her siblings had been home alone for multiple days. On that visit, on Sept. 18, 2022, neighbors confirmed to officers the mom would leave to go to Hildebrandt's home for days at a time and said they were concerned about the children.
"Everyone who came to the scene was very concerned about the children and them being left at home alone," a report states.
The juvenile court case involving the Franke family may be related to the DCFS investigation or custody of the children, but all documents related to the case are classified as private.
DCFS spokeswoman Miranda Fisher released a statement Wednesday saying, in part, "Due to confidentiality and the privacy of the children and families we work with, DCFS cannot share information on a case, either past and present, or confirm involvement with a child or family."
A hearing in the Provo court was held yesterday in that case, and another will be held on Sept. 18.
Kevin Franke's attorney, Randy Kester, said the father is "following the guidance of the juvenile court and his counsel and attempting to do those things that are best for the kids."
The attorney said he has been a great dad, and they are trying to get the kids back into a normal situation.
