It’s been more than a year since mommy vlogger Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to felony child abuse. Now, a new Hulu docuseries is taking viewers on a close up look of how the YouTube star went from “America’s mom” to a convicted felon.
Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke charts the career and downfall of Franke, beginning with her first ever YouTube videos. Franke, the creator of the now-defunct “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, was known online for vlogs about her Mormon faith and parenting style for her six children. But in August 2023, Franke’s then-12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt’s house with injuries and ran to neighbors to ask them for help. Franke and Hildebrant were arrested, and quick police investigation uncovered months of child abuse by the two women — kept afloat and encouraged by Hildebrandt’s spiritual teachings. The docuseries features never before seen clips from Franke’s YouTube video and testimony from her soon-to-be-ex-husband Kevin, son Chad, and daughter Shari. Here’s what Rolling Stone learned from the new docuseries.
Filming the Vlogs Quickly Became A Point of Contention
Ruby’s YouTube career grew quickly after she began posting unfiltered vlogs about caring for her family and the pressures of mom life. Thousands of subscribers joined each month, some commenting with special requests to see particular kids more. At the height of their YouTube fame, the Franke family could take in anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in extra income each month, which incentivized Ruby to keep posting. But as the children grew older, filming became a sore spot in the house. The docuseries shows several clips of the children being admonished for not wanting to perform for the camera.
“We were completely lost in the fun of it,” Kevin says in the docuseries. “But we did see changes in the kids accumulating.” The kids can be seen in the documentary shying away from the camera or getting stern warnings from Ruby when they don’t smile or miss a line they prepared. Editor’s picks The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time
“Our entire schedule revolved around YouTube,” Shari adds in the series. “And I think that’s where I started to have issues.”
Jodi Believed She Was Under Spiritual Attack
While many of the Franke children began to resent their fame on YouTube, both they and neighbors agree that their lives really changed when Ruby began working with Hildebrandt. The therapist first came into their lives after Chad was expelled from school, but Ruby began working closer and closer with Hildebrandt’s counseling business Connexions, including making Kevin join a weekly men’s group. Ruby also hosted sessions and videos with Jodi.
Once, Ruby and Kevin received a call from Hildebrandt who sounded completely distraught. When they came to her house, Kevin tells documentary producers that strange things were happening, including loud noises coming from empty rooms and strange handprint-like smudges on the glass windows. Hildebrandt believed she was under spiritual attack and moved into Franke’s home for support. In addition to running her counseling business from Shari’s room, where she went to escape the spirits, Hildebrandt also began falling into “possessed trances,” according to Kevin, where she would hit herself, thrash, and start speaking in deep strange voices.
“Ruby believed that it was meant to be, and that me and her were meant to help Jodi overcome this,” Kevin says.
After then 17-year-old Chad confessed to Jodi and Ruby that he watched pornography and kissed girls behind their backs, Hildebrandt and Ruby blamed him for the spiritual warfare and kicked him out of the house. “I have never seen my mom more distraught,” Chad said. “I have never seen her so red in the face. But it wasn’t anger. It was a sadness. She was bawling. She couldn’t breathe.” Related Content Why Are Family Vloggers Really Leaving California for Nashville? Ole Miss Student Says Online Rumors Sparked Death Threats and Harassment How to Watch 'Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke' 'There’s Still A Lot of Pain': Ruby Franke’s Husband Speaks Out for the First Time
Shari Believes Hildebrandt and Ruby Were Lovers
Shari was attending college at Brigham Young University when Hildebrandt and Ruby’s relationship grew closer. When she came home to visit for Christmas, she says in the docuseries that the energy in the entire house was off. Ruby had also begun to sleep next to Hildebrandt every night in Shari’s room, and when Shari went inside to grab some items she noticed massage oil and candles everywhere.
“It was so tangible that something was off and I can’t describe it,” she says. “But it was like a physical heaviness. It felt really dark. At that moment, I kind of figured something was going on.”
Kevin is frank in the documentary that he’s not sure if Jodi and Ruby were lovers. But he does note that as their relationship grew stronger and stronger, it began to make people, including himself, uncomfortable.
“I don’t know the extent to which their interactions went,” Kevin says. “It was much more than a friendship. Much more than a sister hood. It was uncomfortably intimate.” Neither Hildebrandt nor Ruby have ever responded to these claims.
Police Believe Quick Thinking From Ruby’s Son Saved the Kids’ Lives
In August 2023, Franke’s then-12-year-old son escaped out of Hildebrandt’s home and rang the doorbells of several houses. When one neighbor answered, he asked if they could call or take him to the nearest police station. The neighbors quickly called 911 and tearfully told dispatchers that the boy had visible wounds, duct tape on his extremities, and seemed malnourished. Authorities also found Ruby’s emaciated 10-year-old daughter in the house, and the two women were arrested and held without bail.
When police searched Hildebrandt’s house a third time for more evidence, they found a blue folder in Ruby’s bedroom that appeared to be a diary. In it was a full account of how she and Hildebrandt believed her youngest two children were possessed by evil demons. In her December 2023 plea deal, Ruby admitted that the journal was accurate and she’d kicked her son, forced him to do consistent labor, often bound his wrists and ankles, held his head underwater, and cut off his oxygen supply. The bindings damaged his skin and muscles, which were treated first with “homeopathic remedies,” and then covered in duct tape before he was once again locked back into handcuffs. Her daughter was also subjected to similar physical punishments, including running barefoot outside and working on hot days. Both of the children were told that they were evil and possessed, their punishments were necessary acts of love, and they needed to receive the treatment to repent. Ruby’s diary also included a line that read, “I told him ‘Give your demon friend a message for me. I will not rest. I will not stop. I will not leave. I will fight him until the day you die.'”
Detective Jessica Bate from the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department, who gives an interview about the investigation in the docuseries, says Ruby’s son escaping was incredibly brave — and the abuse would have continued. “There’s absolutely no doubt what that young boy did that day saved his and his sister’s life,” she says.
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