Ruby Franke's husband sues her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt over child abuse
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt each pleaded guilty to child abuse in February.
YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke's husband, Kevin Franke, filed a lawsuit against her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, over the two women's abuse of two of the couple's four children. Franke is asking for a jury trial and an unspecified amount of damages.
He is accusing Hildebrandt, the founder of Connexions Classroom, of emotional distress and negligence toward him and his children due to the abuse of his 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, whose names were not revealed in the suit.
Kevin Franke alleges that his wife moved their four minor children in to Hildebrandt's Utah home on or about May 22, 2023, without notifying him. Kevin Franke filed for divorce from Ruby Franke in November 2023.
Ruby Franke and Hildebrandt each pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse in Washington County, Utah, court in December.
In their plea agreements, Franke and Hildebrandt admitted to inflicting or allowing another adult to inflict serious physical injuries upon Franke's children between May 2023 and August 2023.
They were both sentenced to four consecutive sentences of one to 15 years in prison. The amount of time they spend in jail will be up to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
Children found
Franke's son was able to escape the home in late August 2023 and seek help from a neighbor. The boy had been convinced he would go to jail if he escaped, so he asked the neighbor to call law enforcement so he could be taken to jail, according to the suit.
The boy was cared for by first responders and admitted to the hospital for severe malnourishment and treatment of serious wounds and injuries, the lawsuit said.
The second child was found by police sitting on the floor in Hildebrandt's closet, the suit said. She was so "traumatized and afraid that she would not communicate" with law enforcement and first responders who found her, according to the suit.
She would only leave the closet after hours of being reassured of her safety, and eating an entire pizza and part of another, the lawsuit said. The girl was taken to the hospital to be treated for her injuries, malnourishment and emotional state.
Utah's Department of Child and Family Services took custody of all four of the Frankes' children to professionally address their emotional and psychological condition, according to the suit. Kevin Franke has also sought out therapy, "in order to coordinate not only with the children’s treatment providers, but to gain an understanding of his children’s conditions and needs," the suit said.
"The children's personalities, emotions and psyches were so damaged and altered that it was beyond Father's capability to restore them without professional intervention of state's resources through the Juvenile Court. This, through a rehabilitation and restorative process directed and prescribed by the professionals treating the children," according to the suit.
Alleged abuse
Hildebrandt allegedly wrongfully detained two of the children "often confining them to a room in the home and/or basement of the home," according to the suit. Hildebrandt allegedly inflicted or allowed another adult to "inflict serious physical injuries upon the two children in her residence."
The suit alleges that one of the children was physically tortured, forced to do physical tasks for hours and days at a time, forced to do outside labor without shoes in the summer heat, stand in direct sunlight for several days and remain outside at all hours of the day and night. He had repeated and serious sunburns with "blistered and sluffing skin," according to the suit.
The child was also allegedly denied adequate water several of the days he was required to remain in the summer heat and denied sufficient food, according to the suit. He was also denied "all forms of entertainment including books, notebooks and electronics," according to the suit.
The child tried to run away in July, but "when he was caught by [Hildebrandt] and Ruby, he was taken home and his hands and feet thereafter were regularly bound, including being tied to multiple weights. Many times, the binding included two sets of handcuffs, one on his wrists and one on his ankles," according to the suit.
Ropes were at times allegedly used to tie the two sets of handcuffs together so that his arms and legs were lifted off the ground, the suit said. The bindings allegedly resulted in injuries, but were treated with cayenne and honey and covered with duct tape, the suit said.
With the exception of bindings, the Frankes' daughter was subjected to the same abuse, according to the suit.
The two children were allegedly told repeatedly that they were evil and possessed, needed to repent and that the abusive behavior toward them were acts of love, the lawsuit said.
An attorney for Hildebrandt did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
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