A Utah woman who once offered parenting advice to more than two million YouTube followers is in custody on child abuse charges after her “emaciated” son ran off in search of food, officials say, reports RTE.
Ruby Frank and her business partner and associate, Jody Hildebrandt, were both arrested in Ivins, a small town in southwestern Utah, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety.
Ms. Frank’s now-defunct YouTube “8 Passengers,” in which she and her husband Kevin shared their experiences raising six children, offered lessons in strict discipline — so strict that many viewers had previously complained.
A statement from the Ivins Health Department said someone called Wednesday to report that a teenager “who appeared to be emaciated and malnourished” had jumped out of a window at his home and come begging for food and water.
The youth had “open wounds and duct tape around the extremities,” the statement said, reports RTE.
The statement said the child and another child found in a nearby home were taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment.
A subsequent search of the home found evidence “consistent with the markings found on the juvenile,” reports RTE.
Local police and family services officers took four minor children from their parents, the statement said.
Both women were formally charged in Washington County yesterday, the St. George News reported. Each of them has been charged with aggravated child abuse.
This was not the family’s first encounter with childcare and family care.
In 2020, officials were called to Frank’s home after a boy said on YouTube that he was forced to sleep in a beanbag chair for seven months as punishment for a misdemeanour.
His parents told reporters that the case was taken out of context.
This incident and others have drawn widespread criticism online that the Franks used harsh and extreme child-rearing techniques, including withholding food as a form of discipline.
Two women who said they were Ruby Frank’s sisters took to social media yesterday to say the arrests were “necessary” and would ultimately ensure the safety of their children, reports RTE.
According to the St. George News, Ms. Frank and Ms. Hildebrandt are being held without bail at Purgatory Correctional Facility in the nearby city of Hurricane.
No hearing date has been set for the case.
It was not immediately clear what charges would be filed against Kevin Frank.
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