“I’m a good woman” — YouTuber Ruby Franke in Jail Phone Call to Husband Kevin Franke
Content warning: This story discusses child abuse.
Prosecutors from the Washington County Attorney’s Office in Utah shared tons of insight into Ruby Franke’s mindset following her arrest on February 20 this year.
They have released a series of disturbing jailhouse calls between the disgraced social media personality and her estranged husband, Kevin Franke. The details were shared a month after she was sentenced to four consecutive one- to 15-year sentences in prison for aggravated child abuse.
In one of the phone calls, the creator of the 8 Passengers YouTube channel revealed that the mom of six blamed the devil for her situation. Her video uploads amassed nearly 2.5 million followers before it got removed by the online video-sharing platform.
The conversation took place just two days after the Utah parenting influencer and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt—both belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—were taken into custody. They were arrested after a “severely emaciated and malnourished” child, who was supposedly under their care, was discovered. The 12-year-old climbed out of the window at Hildebrandt’s residence and ran to a neighbor’s house asking for help.
During the conversation, the American YouTuber told her husband, “The most upsetting thing is that I am completely misunderstood.” She compared herself to Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism and the Latter-Day Saints movement.
“Satan has taken everything away from me that I love,” the 42-year-old who subjected her kids to horrific mistreatment said on Sepember 1 while calling from the Purgatory Correctional Facility. Crying, she continued “And I’m a good woman. I don’t do naughty things. I don’t do naughty things. I’m a really good girl.”
On the same call, Kevin predicted she would likely have to deal with legal restrictions, limiting her access to her minor children. “I figured such. God told me,” she said. “God told me when I was driving [to Hildebrandt’s home after police learned of the abuse] before I called you.”
“The spirit said, ‘Your children are gonna be removed,” she continued. “And I just, I cried out loud. I’m like, ‘No, I’m not done. I’m not ready. ‘And God told me I’m done.”
Kevin could be heard telling her, I will “do everything that [I] can to keep truth in our family. I’m committed to our family. I’m committed to you and our marriage, no matter what happens. I will be here to support you in any way that I can.”
He has since filed for divorce, with his lawyer saying the pair had been living apart for more than a year before her arrest.
In the case summary released by the Washington County Attorney’s Office, prosecutors said that “religious extremism” motivated Ruby and Hildebrandt to inflict such “horrific abuse” on the children. An account of her chilling abuse towards two of her six children, referenced as “R” and “E,” has been detailed in the scanned photos of her heavily redacted handwritten journal and home.
Four of the disgraced host’s children are in the care of the Department of Child and Family Services. However, Kevin, who insists he never knew about the abuse, is trying to win them back. He filed a request for custody on February 9.
