Ruby Franke Claims She Takes 'Full Accountability' for Crimes as Children, Estranged Husband Attend Sentencing: Report
The disgraced family vlogger and mother of six was sentenced to prison on Tuesday
An emotional Ruby Franke apologized to her family and claimed she takes “full accountability” for her actions leading to her guilty plea and Tuesday sentencing for aggravated child abuse.
Franke, 42, received four consecutive 1 to 15-year sentences in prison on Tuesday, one for each of the four counts of felony aggravated child abuse she pleaded guilty to in December. She and her parenting podcasting partner Jodi Hildebrandt were both arrested last August.
Shortly after Franke learned her fate, Hildebrandt received the same sentence. The length of each prison sentence will ultimately be decided by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, according to Utah's Deseret News. The women will not serve more than 30 years due to a Utah law regarding consecutive sentences, Business Insider reports.
Franke’s estranged husband Kevin Franke and their two oldest children, daughter Shari and son Chad, were in attendance for the sentencing, Kevin's attorney Randy Kester tells PEOPLE. (The four youngest Franke children remain in state custody with child protective services.)
"I take full accountability for my choices," Franke said, according to KOMO News, which reported Franke directly addressed her husband at one point.
“You are the love of my life,” Ruby reportedly said to Kevin. “The ending of our marriage is a tragedy.”
Franke added: “My charges are just. They offer safety to my family, accountability to the public.”
Related: A Timeline of Ruby Franke's Rise and Fall: From Family Vlogger to Convicted Child Abuser
Franke first rose to prominence on YouTube after she and her husband began documenting their daily life in 2015, often filming their experience raising six children.
But the now-disgraced family vlogger began receiving backlash for her abusive parenting style, at times withholding food from their children and taking away their beds as a form of punishment.
Franke shut down her channel and later began co-hosting the controversial "Moms of Truth" podcast alongside Jodi Hildebrandt, a former sex therapist who founded the religious-based “ConneXions” social media network. The two women continued to receive criticism online for their parenting methods.
Related: Kevin Franke Files for Divorce from Disgraced YouTube Star Ruby Franke amid Child Abuse Allegations
Both women were arrested last August and each charged with felony child abuse after investigators found Franke’s two youngest children “emaciated” and malnourished inside Hildebrandt’s Ivins, Utah, home with physical wounds on their bodies.
Police were called to the home after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped the house and ran to a neighbor, begging for food and water. Authorities said the boy had visible wounds and marks from tape around his wrists and ankles and his 10-year-old sister was found in “a similar physical condition” shortly after police arrived. The children were taken to the hospital and later removed from Franke and her estranged husband's care.
Several of Franke’s family members soon denounced her online.
“Finally,” Shari, her eldest daughter, wrote on Instagram the day Franke was taken into custody, reacting with relief to her mother’s arrest.
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Franke’s three sisters – all of whom are social media influencers who post about their families online – said in a statement their sister’s arrest “needed to happen,” claiming “behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe” in recent years.
Several neighbors told PEOPLE last September they were “shocked” at Franke’s arrest, though her children went from being a daily presence in the neighborhood to becoming “isolated” from their friends.
In the aftermath of Franke’s arrest, YouTube deleted the family’s “8Passengers” channel from its platform and banned its content.
In November, Franke’s husband filed for divorce. Kester, his attorney, tells PEOPLE Kevin and Ruby are “still working toward terms” of their divorce. The attorney says Kevin often visits his four youngest children, who remain in state custody, and that "the two older kids are typically a part of that visit so that the whole family can heal."
Kevin and the Franke family's four youngest children are all receiving therapy, Kester says.
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