FORMER YouTube star Ruby Franke was sentenced to up to 60 years in prison for “concentration camp-like” child abuses.
Here we get to know her husband Kevin, who features in the true crime documentary Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.
Who is Ruby Franke’s ex-husband, Kevin?
Kevin Franke and his former wife Ruby started sharing their journey as parents of six kids on their YouTube channel 8 Passengers in January 2015.
At its peak, the channel had hit 2.5million followers — before being shut down.
Concerns grew by 2020 regarding the strict parenting in the Mormon household, leading many followers to call for child protection services to look into the situation.
Although Kevin featured in many of the YouTube videos, he was not charged with any crimes when his wife was arrested on August 30, 2023.
Kevin’s lawyer Randy Kester has described his client as a gentle person who had no involvement in the abuses against his children.
The father of six claimed the pair were separated prior to her arrest, later filing for divorce in the hope of regaining custody of his children.
He also stated that he wanted his ex-wife to receive the maximum possible prison sentence.
According to their legal representative, “The children experienced appalling and cruel treatment from the very individuals they should have been able to rely on, causing physical and psychological harm.”
“Kevin remains focused on the rehabilitation of these sweet and vulnerable children so that they might return to a normal life as soon as possible.”
In the past, Kevin reportedly worked as an assistant professor of civil engineering at Brigham Young University.
However, since he has tended to keep away from the spotlight, his current professional career is unclear.
Who is Ruby Franke?
Former 8 Passengers host Ruby ran the channel until it was taken down in 2022.
Pressure to investigate Franke rose out of the documentation of her intense disciplinary methods.
Back in 2020, one of the Franke children revealed he had been sleeping on a beanbag for several months.
It then emerged that Franke resorted to methods of control like withholding food, threatening to behead stuffed toys, and even sending one of her children to a camp for troubled teens.
In 2022, Ruby and Kevin Franke separated, with Kevin moving out of the home.
Ruby Franke created a parent counseling service called ConneXions with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt shortly after the separation.
The program promised to “help you flourish in your relationships” and “dispose of distortion’s ugly lies in order to live in truth, connection, and freedom.”
Hildebrandt purportedly played a hand in the Frankes’ separation, with Kevin’s lawyer telling People that she ordered them to split as “they were enabling one another.”
Hildebrandt also reportedly advised that Kevin cut off communication with his family.
“Ruby Franke was only allowed to contact Kevin three or four times,” the lawyer said.
In November 2023, Kevin Franke filed for divorce, but as of February 27, 2025, they are still officially married.
When was Ruby Franke arrested?
On August 30, 2023, Franke was arrested, and on September 1 of the same year she was charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The U.S. Sun that she had been arrested alongside Hildebrandt.
Police said the pair were taken into custody for “intentionally or knowingly committing aggravated child abuse.”
The arrests followed the escape of Franke’s 12-year-old son.
He had climbed through a window in Hildebrandt’s house to beg a neighboring house for food and water.
Neighbors described him as emaciated, and having deep wounds from where he had been tied up with a rope.
Following the arrests, emergency services found Franke’s 10-year-old daughter in the house, similarly malnourished, and both children were taken to hospital.
It later emerged that the boy said cayenne pepper and honey was used to “treat” his wounds.
On Monday, December 18, 2023, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree child abuse.
Ahead of the hearing, Franke’s attorneys released a statement on her behalf, saying the former YouTuber was “a devoted mother who, unfortunately, was led astray.”
Her sentencing hearing began in February 2024.
On February 20, she was sentenced to up to 60 years in prison.
Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke
The true crime documentary Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke delves into the disturbing events that led to the arrests of Franke and her former business partner Jodi Hildebrandt.
It marks the first time Ruby Franke’s eldest children Shari and Chad have opened up about their experiences on camera.
Directed by Olly Lambert, the three-part series also features interviews with Ruby’s estranged husband Kevin, as well as law enforcement officials and former neighbours of the Franke family.
Devil In The Family premieres on Hulu on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
