An American woman who became known for giving parenting advice on the YouTube platform has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated child abuse after her malnourished son escaped through a window and asked for help, authorities said Friday.
Ruby Franke, who owned the now-defunct 8 Passengers channel that followed her family, was arrested Wednesday night in southern Utah’s Ivins.
The arrest took place at the home of Jody Hildebrandt, the owner of a consulting company that she says teaches people how to improve their lives by being honest, responsible and humble.
Franke recently appeared in videos with Hildebrandt on YouTube that were posted “on the web” by Hildebrandt’s consulting company ConneXions Classroom.
According to a statement released by a spokesman for the Santa Clara State Department of Public Safety, Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped Wednesday morning through the window of the Hildebrandt home in Ivins and ran to a neighbor’s house to ask for food and water. Ivins.
A neighbor saw the tape on the boy’s ankles and wrists and called the police. The young man was taken to the hospital, where he was “due to deep lacerations from rope binding and malnutrition,” according to court documents.
Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was later found emaciated at the Hildebrandt home and was also taken to the hospital, authorities added.
The other two Franke children are in the care of child protection services, they said.
The Franke family has come under fire online for their 8 Passengers vlog, which reveals parental decisions, including banning their eldest son from the bedroom for seven months for playing pranks on his younger brother, as well as sending it to nature. therapy camp for unknown reasons.
Some critics have launched an online petition calling for the involvement of child protection services.
The eldest daughter broke ties with her parents, she said in publications on social networks.
The YouTube channel, launched in 2015, closed after seven years.
Both Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of two felony charges of aggravated child abuse, although they have not been formally charged, authorities said.
Randy S. Kester, Ruby Franke’s husband’s lawyer, said he was representing Kevin Franke in keeping their children together and under his care, adding that he could not comment on the woman’s detention.