Ruby Franke: journal excerpts about her kids 

Russel escaped that house the same day Ruby stated she had found a piece of land/house that they were going to move to, so that Ruby and Jodi could really “straighten out” the children. On that land the children would have been truly isolated, I believe those two children wouldn’t have made it if they had been relocated. Russel saved himself and his sister. He became his own hero. I really hope these children find peace and healing.

What hurts is R wanted to go to jail because he legitimately believed he was a bad and evil person and deserved to be there. It's heartbreaking how these two monsters broke these two innocent angels! 😢

breaks my heart when i hear R say "it's personal business" as he's asking for help. he's trying to stay so composed and grown up in such a horrible situation, i bet his heart was beating so fast in his chest. what a brave little boy.

The neighbor is a class act. He was so kind to the kid and level headed when the son showed up out of no where. Even in the 911 call you can tell he’s getting emotional but keeps it together for the sake of the abused child that just showed up on his door step.

While they’re at it, arrest the couple that had the poor little girl cleaning their house . They didn’t notice how emaciated the child looked ? Didn’t they try to hide the kid from the cops ?

Kevin needs to be charged too. Nothing can change my mind about that. He was part of the problem before he moved out…🤷🏻‍♀️

Imagine moving your Therapist into your house to help with their own crisis? That already crosses a boundary. So much of this is new to me 🤦🏼‍♀️

I have been in therapy over 10 years and not once was I able to go and have a coffee as "friends" with my therapist. It is NOT the normal and it goes against all policies. If your therapist is doing this, run.

You can read the entire journal, with portions redacted, on the Washington county website. You can also see how deep the wounds were on R's arms and legs; no reporting has released those images and they are so much worse than I imagined. She describes kicking him and then going to get her boots so she can kick him again. She describes watching him while he showers and forcing him to stand in a closet within her line of sight while she showered. The kids are regularly either in closets or on her patio in the heat/at night. She describes beating both R and E with her belt when "nothing else was working." She was constantly accusing him of "stealing" water, etc. She accused him of working with the devil or being devil spawn. The only time he got to sleep in a "soft bed" was when he was tied to her because he had just tried to run away; in fact, the reason the house was empty in the crime scene photos is because they were buying a more secluded property where he could run and not be found and also where he could "get a good kick from a horse and run into some cactus." She's a monster. They both are. The father is too. The church there is corrupt. Shame on them all.

This situation makes me so angry because people have been calling CPS for years but nothing was ever done! Ruby and Kevin have posted multiple videos where they withheld food as a form of punishment, or as they call it "a natural consequence".

If you look deeper into this case it becomes even more crazy. Jodi and Ruby were part of a doomsday prepper mormon group that took a book named ‘finding glory’ as scripture. If anyone remembers the Lori Vallow Daybell case, who murdered her own children, she was and is still obsessed with the book. Same with Tim Ballard, who also was part of the same community. This mormon extremist group became a perfect storm for abuse and murder. I highly recommend digging deeper into this whole situation, because it is absolutely astounding what they got away with

Repeat after me: With narcissists, accusations are ADMISSIONS OF GUILT.

The fact she abused them not just for sins but IMAGINARY SINS. Talk about giving your kids OCD. It pisses me off so much thinking these poor kids not only had to suffer in that home but will now have to suffer from PTSD and OCD until they can find some way to heal. Which, how does one even heal from such extreme trauma inflicted in their developmental years? I hope everyone involved in the abuse of those poor sounds never gets out of jail and I hope they never experience comfort for the rest of their existence.

Dont you just hate when satan is against child abuse and he keeps meddling with your kids

Until the journal entries came out I knew Ruby was heavily complicit but I always assumed that it was Jodi that had been at the forefront. By these entries you can tell that Ruby was the one doing the abuse. The way she talks about her children is frightening.

The way he said its personal business like he knew he wasn't supposed to say anything is completely heartbreaking. Praying for those children, thank God they were able to escape.

ruby flipping on jodi and having a sudden realization that she was "manipulated" the second she was arrested just shows that she knew exactly what she was doing.

I swear if you had told me Ruby's entries were written by the commandant of a Soviet gulag, I would have believed it. I don't believe she ever for one second truly thought she was "helping" her children - I believe her intent, even from her earliest videos on her channel, proved her singular goal was always to harm them.

How did Kevin not know, he new he just didn't care. His biggest concern was getting back with ruby, the kid's were irrelevant.

“it’s his birthday and he doesn’t even know what month it is” most devastating line. crying for these kids

The entire footage shows how complete strangers display more emotion and compassion than their own mother ever did. Truly heartbraking 💔. Hoping they're safenow 🙏🏻

Her demeanor at the police station reminds me of Lori Vallow.

Omg those neighbours were awesome! “Have a seat son” just the calm deep voice and the listening to him. Bless them!

You need to watch Jessie Hildebrandt’s interview on Mormon Stories Podcast. Jessie was Jodie’s niece and when she was 14 her parents left her with Jodie to be “straightened out”. The interview is three hours of a highly insightful, terribly articulate person describing the absolute hell she lived through thanks to Jodie Hildebrandt. Jessie was made to sleep in the snow, and that was the least abusive thing Jodie put them through. Everything that made them happy or proud was systematically taken away. Jessie was academically brilliant and *therefore* Jodie withdrew them from school and would not let them study. It is chilling how well Jessie describes step by step how you can convince somebody that they did awful things - Jessie was then a virgin but Jodie convinced them that they had had an abortion. It is the most devastating interview I have ever seen. Even Adam Paul Stede who had his life destroyed by Hildebrandt isn’t as frightening, because Jessie has managed to reconstruct themselves enough to be able to tell their story with terrible lucidity.

I'm BEYOND grateful he stumbled across caring & safe neighbors because this could have ended very differently. Loved hearing your thoughts on this 💜

One of the biggest signs of a predator is to try and alienate the parents away from the kids. That therapist is sick and I wouldn’t be shocked if the therapist is the one with the addiction and introduced it to the children.

I’m astounded that they didn’t get more time, after this latest evidence drop, they’re horrible individuals!

3:04 even though you can’t really see him, you can tell that baby was in bad shape just with how agitated the woman is. She’s tearing into banana like tilts a race, pacing, and self soothing by putting her hands above her head, a common move when someone is having trouble breathing. I can feel her surging adrenaline just watching her.

Truly grateful those kids survived those two women. Saw the photos of the injuries and how skinny they were from being starved. I feel like a jerk when I give my kids a time out or tell them "no junk food" but still give them free reign to 3 full meals and all the fruits and vegetables and healthy snacks they want. Can't begin to imagine doing that to anyone let alone my own children. Those kids deserved so much better.

I hope the kids' father put them into real therapy (not religious therapy), with someone who is actually, clinically licensed. And not religious.

Ex should not get custody. He did not PROTECT his kids and stay involved enough to know how they were doing; Let these women roll right over him and shove him out of his household. He doesn't have what these kids need. Shameful.

Hearing Ruby's journal entries was just horrifying. I knew she and Kevin were bad people but my God! Jodi too obviously. Those entries alone should've gotten them 50 to life! I also hate that Kevin isn't getting looked into more. He may not have been involved in the kids being duct taped and locked up but he was very much involved with the other abuse the kids endured throughout the years. The fact that he showed no concern over the kids during the interrogation and only cared about Ruby says it all. I definitely always had a hunch things were really bad off camera cause if the things that Ruby wasn't afraid to show on camera were bad like denying her 4 or 6 year old daughter lunch cause she forgot it and sending her son to a prison camp or whatever because he played a prank on his sibling or threatening to decapitate her young daughter's stuffed animal right to her face, then there's no doubt much MUCH worse things were happening off camera. The sentence Ruby and Jodi got was ass! Again, these psychopaths need 50 to life!

Why does Ruby and Hildebrandt together give me Jim Jones vibes? Glad they're getting what they deserve but I don't think parole should be a possibility for them and I can't see how a parent can do what she did to her children, makes me sick to my stomach.

It’s actually insane to me how ppl are toting the father like some unsung hero when he was nowhere to be seen when the abuse was happening, didn’t try to see his kids when he knew they were endanger, yet was ready to sue the eldest daughter for taking some damn journals 😭

The worst part is they don't even have their dad. He needs charges too imo

"Family Vlogger abuses kids", again.. 😒 This is why I don't watch any if of that sorta stuff. I'd feel awful if they turned out to be pieces of trash.

She is such a monster

The contrast between Ruby's statements and behavior when she was first arrested versus her "woe is me" BS when she finally went to trial is disgusting. You can clearly tell she spent time concocting a story to try to paint herself as a submissive victim who was just following orders and make Jodi look like the only one in the wrong. The fact that they both got what is essentially a slap on the wrist (because let's be real here, they likely won't stay in prison longer than 4 years knowing how these things go) just shows how much bias the judicial system still has towards female abusers.

I think the neighbours did admirably well staying so outwardly calm in the face of what must have been a traumatising sight after what those kids went through. They knew they needed to be someone the kid could lean on because he’d come to them for help.

Ruby didn't freak out because she's a manipulator. She was ready to calmly answer questions about the kids because she didn't think it would be serious. She thinks what she was doing was right, her head is completely turned around. Jody is more of a manipulator, but Ruby was always an abuser, she just leaned into what Jody was doing. They abused, tortured and neglected the children and they should all be in prison for a while. Ruby left one cult and joined another one, this is actually not so uncommon for people like this. The only way she feels any peace is through control

This is the thing that always gets me; he says he wasn't in contact with her so he didn't know. So like; he didn't file for custody? Or even try to get visitation with his own kids? Because the only way you don't know about that is if you couldn't be bothered to check up on your own damn kids.

I think you misunderstood the part about the kick from a horse or running through a cactus. Knowing how Ruby punished her kids, she’s being literal. That’s how she plans to make her kids suffer by having a ranch in the desert.

The therapist met the famous RU-vid parents and saw opportunity. Those types of dollar signs don’t come across your couch often. She didn’t have a crisis at home, it was an excuse to get closer and further wedge herself between the Frankes. She knew Ruby already had abusive tendencies and she RAN with it.

The thing that scares me about things like this is people only think psychotic monsters could do this sort of thing and can’t imagine it happens with the regular nice family you go to church with. From personal experience it never got this bad with my parents but the things ruby writes in her journal are sickeningly familiar. I am certain that under not so different circumstances this could have happened in my family. Religious extremism can make even “normal” people willing to commit atrocities because they are convinced it is the only right thing to do

Seeing therapists "socially" is, how Hannibal Lector eats your face....

18:32 yes, hopeless is 100% what the abusive parent goes for....if the child has hope then the child might turn them in....when the child has lost hope the abusers know they can ramp up the abuse and the kids will be broken and resist the punishments less.

I watched the "2020" episode covering this case, it was fucked. possibility of parole is far to lenient for these two monsters.

I live here in Ivins..it’s basically a town within St George UT and it said the average temp is 90..that’s probably for the whole year. In summer when those kids were out the temperature is usually 110 and gets down to 90 at 2am. It is extremely hot here in summer and doesn’t ever quit at night so I don’t know how their little feet could handle it.

poor kid:( to have the ability to go to a neighbor and ask for help really means a lot because a parent being your abuser is so hard to escape mentally. those kids probably carry so much guilt with them about their mom being in prison, where she should be

I would like to point out that Jody's bs meets the BITE model. Just something to think about. Not only did that kid save himself and his sister, he prevented the formation of a cult.

This is so much worse than I could have imagined. How people can get so messed up is mind boggling. I'm so glad that her 12 year old son had the courage to escape and let the world know what was going on. GOD bless the neighbors who helped him.

Have you talked about the troubled teen industry? The program on Netflix is really good. All the things this woman did would have been legal and they are done in programs. The programs are all over Utah and have Mormon staff

People with clinician related trauma can find it helpful to have sessions seem more social and casual and like a friend more than a doctor, but it has to be done carefully with clear boundaries.

What they were doing was a slippery slope to some Lori Vallow/Chad Darnell shit! Really scary. 12 days later I see I wrote Darnell instead of Daybell. lol oh well 🥴😂

As someone who was raised Pentecostal, I gotta disagree that these people “aren’t religious” and are just extremist. They are extremely religious and that forms the foundation of all of their extremist beliefs. It’s a “no true Scotsman” fallacy to say that they are not actually religious just to avoid insulting other religious people who may not be extremist.

My mom would be smart enough to write a journal with that skew so that she could use it as an excuse for leniency, or to be absolved through an insanity claim. But i don't know how smart Ruby is

That therapist's behavior is extremely unethical. She should lose her license, because she contributed to the abuse

pornography in Jodi's and Ruby's lexicon can be anything from Rihanna music clip to a tv show

This is eerily similar to the case of Lori Vallow. I’m so grateful those kids got out when they did, who knows how far this could have gone…

I appreciate your channel for allowing me to consume certain news stories in a much less harmful manner than direct media coverage

16:41 I actually told my parents at 12- 13 that I want to move out, because our highly dysfunctional "domestic" life is unbearable, and I honestly and very naively asked (I was immature for my age, I guess) what are the ways to do it. I understood it needed money so I asked whether they had any extra because I went into a shop and asked for a job and they told me it's illegal to employ minors (in my country) so I can't see the solution 😂 The response was screaming and the same old same old

Jodi's issue and why she went to stay with Ruby and Kevin was not money related, she was having a mental breakdown. When she moved in she was having crazy religious 'visions' and said she was being followed and stalked by 'shadow people' . She was also cutting herself. The frankes took her in to basically keep an eye on her and help support her emotionally while she was going nuts. (which is kind of ridiculous since JODI is supposed to be therapist who helps OTHERS with mental health) But then Ruby just joined her in her delusional behavior.

0:45 “Which makes her sound like a sandwich” Giulia, I spit out my coffee. 😂😂😂

i agree, he couldn't have knocked on a better door. the worry in that man's voice tells us how bad it was. i hope that little man knows that he is a hero for saving himself and his siblings.

It’s terrifying that abuse to this level can be justified in her mind.

Utah is now writing specific laws regarding "life coaches" that will disqualify anyone related to certain religions to practice. Though Jodi was licensed doctor, she touted Connections as "life coaching." These new laws include stiff penalties, loss of any current licensing held, jail time, and strictly regulated programs of training.

I find it quite coincidental that this was happening in Utah, where most of the currently active WWASP reform schools are located.

Your sound quality is always *chefs kiss*

The abuse I expiernced from my mom was very similar to this

If there's a h311. I hope they have a front row seat. Those poor children. 💔

Sorry, the sandwich bit made me cackle so loud. Her name really does sound like a sandwich. 🤣🤣😭 much love to you Giulia, thank you for making me laugh. I also appreciate you covering this again, you shall not be silenced!!

I shudder everytime I see Jodi referred to as a therapist. It's like calling any malicious cult leader a therapist. The mormon church to Jodi connection is disturbing (watch interviews with her niece)

Omg that video has me in tears!! I feel so bad for these kids

Jodi got her therapist license suspended years before she got involved with the Franke family. She was operating as a "life coach" and therefore wasnt bound by a professional code of conduct, only her own sense of right and wrong. As for the need to "move in", Jodi is suspected to be very wealthy thanks to all the LDS referrals, so ...

This situation was 100% leading towards the Vallow/Daybell situation, nothing can convince me otherwise. Russel saved himself and his sister😭❤️

Bro the fact the first thing she said to the cops was she needed a lawyer...speaks volumes

I love your commentary

11:09 Yeah, no, it's highly unethical to be "friends" with your therapist. This coming from someone who has to remind themselves their therapist isn't their friend 😅

He’s so sweet and polite, I’m so sorry R and E that you’re mother is a monster 😢

I hope the kids are put into good homes with good people because everyone in that family is behind her and her delusions.

I think in their world it is more normalized and I think that she was reinforced with her success. It has progressed I'm sure but from what I have read and seen it was already pretty awful and people were gobbling it up. Goes to show that in some communities child abuse is still considered "normal," and sadly those communities are usually in high demand religions.

Not seeing your own children at that age, for a whole year... that seems like neglect to me. He should be charged, not only for that but for all the abuse that went one, before he left.

The absolute distress and clear heart brokenness of the neighbor gentleman & his wife or daughter(hard to tell from the footage) is absolutely palpable. You can tell the situation really even fucked them up.

❤❤❤ Always a voice of reason. ❤❤❤ Id absolutely love to see you do a video on italy. What its like to live there... Differences between italian culture and American. You are so interesting and intelligent. Ive always wanted to go to italy. Would love to hear about any other countries.

Oh wow I love to hear your opinion on this.

It sounds like she never wanted kids. Dont get married dont have kids if you cant handle it

you can’t convince me that kevin didn’t know

What a monster

The therapist approved WHAT??

I used to run into my therapist at work because i was in school and worked on campus and I couldn’t ignore them, I had to chat with them. I did not like that

Ruby and Jodi put CAYENNE PEPPER and honey (???) in those children’s OPEN WOUNDS. The wounds from being bound with duct tape. Their skin was degrading and sloughing off. I’m sick to my stomach how Ruby is trying to play at being some poor, helpless, brainwashed victim of Jodi when she had a sadistic streak long before partnering with her. Those journal entries aren’t from a brainwashed victim. They’re from a demented, twisted, and sadistic mind. Taking joy and satisfaction in the suffering of your own children is next level evil.

One of the best videos on this topic. These two women are terrifying Jodi in particular jesus…

just wanted to say i live in the same county and the part about the temps in june was wrong. it gets to over 100° here. this boy was tied up with no ac in over 100 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.

Been caught Ruby handed

This was so hard to listen to, those journal entries are so depraved. I pray these women get what is coming to them. This is so sick.

The journal entries describing what’s wrong with her children are so dark. She seems to be projecting, considering the context in which she wrote that.

I hope people don’t stop talking about this… this is so sick and heartbreaking ❤️‍🩹

Girl, you’ve missed so much with this family over the last few months. Shit is wild!

I bet you that Hildebrant sank her nails into Ruby because she saw how how successful Ruby was on social media and wanted a piece of that terrible pie

👿 😢 glad the boy escaped and was able to get help