YouTuber Ruby Franke admits to handcuffing, starving her kids because they were ‘evil and possessed’
Twisted YouTube influencer Ruby Franke inflicted horrific abuse on her children, who she claimed were “evil and possessed,” according to a disturbing confession that came to light on Tuesday.
The disgraced momfluencer admitted that she tortured her 12-year-old son by making him work outdoors for hours from May 22 through Aug. 30 and bound his feet when he tried to escape, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
During the summer, Franke made the pre-teen child work in the heat without enough water until he had “repeated and serious sunburns,” according to the court document.
She also physically attacked the boy for hours. When the child tried to run away in July, Franke bound his hands and feet.
“Many times, the binding included two sets of handcuffs, one on [the child’s] wrists and one on his ankles,” according to harrowing details in the court document.
“At times, with [the child] lying on his stomach, ropes were used to tie the two sets of handcuffs together so that his arms and lower legs were lifted off the ground.”
Franke would only treat the boy’s wounds with “homeopathic remedies and covered with duct tape.”
Franke, who touted parenting advice until she was charged with child abuse, pleaded guilty on Monday but said she is still a “devoted mother.”
The mom of six appeared in shackles in Utah court wearing gray and white jail garb and entered a guilty plea to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in connection to two of her kids.
“With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty,” Franke responded when asked by a judge how she would like to plea.
Under the plea agreement, Franke agreed to serve a prison term with the sentences running consecutively. Each charge carries a sentence of one to 15 years in prison.
She will be back in court for sentencing on Feb. 20.
Franke also admitted she kicked her son while wearing boots, held his head underwater and cut off his oxygen by placing her hands over his mouth, the plea agreement said.
The disgraced “8 Passengers” host also abused her 9-year-old daughter, forcing her to complete physical tasks and denying her food and water.
Franke told her two children that the torture they endured were “acts of love,” and that they were both “evil and possessed.”
The “8 Passengers” YouTube channel at one point amassed 2.5 million subscribers and followed the lives of Franke, her husband Kevin and their six children.
Kevin Franke denied having any part of the abuse, according to his attorney.
Ruby Franke and her co-defendant, relationship counselor and business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested on Aug. 30 after the 12-year-old boy managed to escape Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins, Utah.
The boy went to the home of a neighbor, who said the child was emaciated, had tape around his legs and was “covered in wounds,” according to the 911 call released by cops.
Ruby Franke’s defense attorney, LaMar Winward, said his client was influenced by Hildebrandt.
The lawyer added Hildebrandt allegedly “systematically isolated” Franke from her extended family, her older children and her husband Kevin.
“Ruby Franke is a devoted mother and is also a woman committed to constant improvement,” Winward Law said in a statement.
Franke initially believed that Jodi Hildebrandt “had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement,” but said Hildebrandt “took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous.”