Current:Home > InvestYouTuber Ruby Franke's Chilling Journal Entries Revealed After Prison Sentence for Child Abuse -StockLine
YouTuber Ruby Franke's Chilling Journal Entries Revealed After Prison Sentence for Child Abuse
View
Date:2025-04-25 22:47:23
Content warning: This story discusses child abuse.
Details into Ruby Franke's horrific mistreatment of her kids have come to light.
More than a month after the disgraced parenting influencer was sentenced to four to 30 years in prison on child abuse charges, prosecutors released scans from a handwritten diary belonging to Franke that detailed her behavior toward her children.
In the journal, which had the names of Franke's kids redacted to protect their privacy, the 42-year-old described one child as "Satanic."
"He slithers & sneaks around looking for opportunities when no one is watching & then he scurries," she wrote in an entry dated July 10, 2023, which was the boy's 12th birthday. "If he wants to emulate the savior, he needs to be 100% obedient with exactness. No wavering, no hiding."
Elsewhere in the diary, the mom of six detailed how she confronted the same son over his "deviant behavior" by holding him underwater in the family pool.
"I told him, 'Give your demon friend a message for me. I will not rest. I will not stop,'" she wrote. "'The devil lies and says I'm hurting you, abusing you.'"
In addition to her son, Franke also believed another one of her children was possessed by a demon. In multiple diary entries, the YouTuber described her 9-year-old daughter as "sinful" and "manipulative."
"These selfish, selfish children who desire only to take, lie, and attack have zero understanding of god's love for them," Franke wrote in a July 23, 2023 entry. "Oppositional force is required for growth, development and maturity. [They] have never experienced oppositional force. They are very weak-minded."
Throughout the journal, Franke also seemingly detailed a variety punishments she imposed on her kids, including beating, poking, withholding food and water and forcing them to jump on a trampoline.
"The world we live in today does not support children being uncomfortable," she wrote in an Aug. 15, 2023 entry. "They, the adults, are uncomfortable w/ children being uncomfortable. And so children are comforted, entertained, distracted from the need to confess + change. Stripping down a child's world to the basics of beans + rice + hard work would be considered abuse. And it's not. It's necessary for the prideful child."
Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested in August after the 12-year-old boy ran to a neighbor's home for help, according to the Washington County Attorney's Office. Upon further investigation, prosecutors said in a case summary that Franke and Hildebrandt—a mental health counselor—"appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined 'sins' and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies."
Three months following their arrest, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, while Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of the same charge as part of a plea deal.
Like Franke, Hildebrandt was ordered to spend four to 30 years in prison—the maximum sentence for this kind of an offense—when they were both sentenced in February.
E! News has reached out to Franke and Hildebrandt's attorneys for comment on the journal entries but hasn't heard back.
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (19373)
Related
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- Kylie Jenner's Interior Designer Reveals the Small Changes That Will Upgrade Your Home
- Amanda Bynes Returns to the Spotlight With Her Own Podcast and New Look
- Shohei Ohtani agrees to record $700 million, 10-year contract with Dodgers
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Maine’s congressional delegation calls for Army investigation into Lewiston shooting
- Sri Lanka experiences a temporary power outage after a main transmission line fails
- A hospital fire near Rome kills at least 3 and causes an emergency evacuation of all patients
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- International bodies reject moves to block Guatemala president-elect from taking office
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Thousands of revelers descend on NYC for annual Santa-themed bar crawl SantaCon
- A hospital fire near Rome kills at least 3 and causes an emergency evacuation of all patients
- International bodies reject moves to block Guatemala president-elect from taking office
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Tensions are soaring between Guyana and Venezuela over century-old territorial dispute
- Technology built the cashless society. Advances are helping the unhoused so they’re not left behind
- Tensions are soaring between Guyana and Venezuela over century-old territorial dispute
Recommendation
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
Columbus Crew top LAFC to win franchise's third MLS Cup
Taylor Swift sets record as Eras Tour is first to gross over $1 billion, Pollstar says
Smugglers are bringing migrants to a remote Arizona border crossing, overwhelming US agents
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
How Felicity Huffman Is Rebuilding Her Life After the College Admissions Scandal
Death of last surviving Alaskan taken by Japan during WWII rekindles memories of forgotten battle
We Ranked All of Meg Ryan's Rom-Coms and We'll Still Have What She's Having