Utah, February: A 42-year-old popular YouTuber from Utah who was known for documenting her strict parenting on social media was sentenced to at least four years in prison on Tuesday, February 21, for child abuse. Ruby Franke, a mother of six children, expressed remorse while the judge handed her the sentence. Earlier, Franke had pleaded guilty to charges of starving and abusing her children, and said that she acted out of “paranoia". Her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt (54), also received a similar sentence. The women will serve their sentences consecutively, ranging from one to 15 years per count.

According to a report in The Washington Post, Ruby Franke had millions of subscribers on her YouTube channel called "8 Passengers", which revolved around her family’s life in Springville, Utah. Often, viewers had expressed apprehension regarding the duo's parenting methods that were showcased on the channel. However, they first came under scrutiny when her son, Chad, said in a 2020 video that he slept on a bean bag for months as a punishment. US Shocker: Pennsylvania Man 'Beheads Father', Shows Severed Head On YouTube; Arrested.

The situation escalated in August 2023 after Franke's 12-year-old malnourished son crawled out of a window of her house and ran to a neighbour's home, asking for food and water. In one of her videos that was slammed widely, Franke claimed that her 6-year-old daughter went hungry as she had forgotten to pack her own food for school. Other horrifying parenting techniques employed by the accused included withholding food, threatening to decapitate a toy stuffed animal and cancelling Christmas as a punishment. US Shocker: Cancer Patient Dies After Surgical Robot Burns Holes in Organs, Husband Sues Manufacturer.

These episodes sparked speculations leading to a petition signed by over 17,000 signatures, urging for an investigation. Soon after this, the channel began to decline in popularity and was deleted in 2022. Franke then began appearing in YouTube videos posted by Hildebrandt as the torture of the young ones continued at home. She allegedly tied her children with rope, kicked them and physically assaulted them.

The years of torture ended for the children when the Utah mother was taken into custody in August 2023. During the hearing, State prosecutor Eric Clarke said the setting Franke made for her children was a “concentration camp-like setting” and that she “committed horrible acts of child abuse".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 21, 2024 04:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).