YouTuber Ruby Franke and life coach friend Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested and charged for felony child abuse — but where are they now?
Ruby and husband Kevin Franke started their 8 Passengers channel in 2015. Initially, their content featured the couple and their six children before Ruby’s friend Hildebrandt came into the picture. Ruby and Hildebrandt ultimately rebranded into Moms of Truth in order to share more faith-based content.
Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged on six counts in 2023. The arrest came after Ruby’s youngest son, who was 12 years old at the time, escaped from Hildebrandt’s home and asked for help from a neighbor. Authorities noticed that the child was malnourished and had duct tape on his ankles and wrists.
In December 2023, Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse and admitted she tortured her children. As part of her plea deal, she agreed to serve a prison term and that her sentences would run consecutively. She also agreed to testify against Hildebrandt, who pleaded guilty.
Ruby Franke, Jodi Hildebrandt’s Friendship Timeline Amid Child Abuse Arrest
Keep scrolling to see where Ruby and Hildebrandt are now:
How Did Jodi and Ruby Form a Friendship?
Hildebrandt got her start as a Utah-based therapist before founding ConneXions, which is a program that offered marital, parenting and life counseling — usually to fellow Mormons.
Ruby and Hildebrandt became friends in 2019 after connecting through their church. From there, Ruby and Kevin started attending ConneXions classes, but their marriage subsequently fell apart. Ruby and Hildebrandt started to live together with Ruby’s children until they were arrested.
How Were Jodi and Ruby Arrested?
In 2023, Ruby’s then-12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt’s residence in August 2023 and got a neighbor to call the police about his emaciated condition. Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse.
Both Ruby and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and were sentenced to between 4 and 60 years in prison. They won’t serve more than 30 years due to a Utah law relating to consecutive sentences.
Where Is Ruby Now?
After being separated for more than a year before her arrest, Kevin filed for divorce from Ruby and filed for custody in 2023. A judge signed off on Ruby and Kevin’s divorce in March 2025 after previously being given custody of their children.
Kevin agreed to consider any child support owed by Ruby paid. Ruby, meanwhile, was ordered not to have contact with the children. She also requested to keep the last name Franke instead of returning to her maiden name.
The exes agreed to transfer their Springville home to Kevin, in addition to a property in Scofield, Carbon County. Ruby will keep the $85,000 she withdrew from their financial accounts but the remaining shared money — outside of an investment account under Ruby’s name — will be given entirely to Kevin.
Kevin and Ruby didn’t ask for alimony from each other and he has since remarried.
Ruby Franke’s Family Guide After Child Abuse Arrest: Where Are Her Kids Now?
Where Is Jodi Now?
Ruby is currently serving a 4 to 30-year sentence at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. She won’t appear before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole — which determines the exact length of her sentence — until December 2026. The same applies for Hildebrandt, who is also serving her sentence at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
YouTube has banned Ruby and Hildebrandt and deleted the channels associated with their names. Hildebrandt’s counseling license was frozen following their arrest.
Are Ruby and Jodi Still in Contact?
In a recording of Ruby’s call from prison that was released months after her arrest, she changed her tune about Hildebrandt, saying, “This has been the strangest and the most miraculous intervention. It put everyone where they needed to be. It separated me from Jodi so I am not hearing her. I think not hearing her has cleared a lot of things up for me.”
Hildebrandt’s prison audio was also recorded, where she defended herself and said Ruby’s son “did that to himself” when discussing his extensive injuries.
What Docs Covered Jodi and Ruby’s Case?
Ruby’s case was the subject of Lifetime’s 2024 movie Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story with Emilie Ullerup as Ruby and Heather Locklear as Hildebrandt. Hulu released a docuseries — Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke — in February 2025 with Ruby’s ex-husband and two eldest children featured in the series.
That same month, Investigation Discovery made Ruby and Hildebrandt the subject of their The Curious Case series. The network subsequently produced Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence, which was released in September 2025. Netflix released their tell-all on Jodi titled Evil Influencer, which premiered in December 2025.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
