FORMER YouTube celebrities Ruby Franke and her husband, Kevin, were well-known for their 8 Passengers vlogging channel. On August 30, 2023, the mother of six was arrested on child abuse charges, months after they had removed their previously popular internet content.
Who is Ruby Franke’s husband, Kevin?
In January 2015, Kevin Franke and his wife, Ruby, created the YouTube channel 8 Passengers.
Due to their family-oriented programming, the pair garnered 1 million subscribers on the platform by August 2017.
The Mormons are from Springville, Utah, and have six children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve.
Kevin was previously an assistant professor of civil engineering at Brigham Young University. However, because he prefers to avoid the spotlight, his professional history is unknown.
Who is Ruby Franke?
Ruby Franke was previously known for her channel, 8 Passengers, where she frequently posted videos about her children, their daily lives, her home-cooked meals, and other topics.
Her three sisters are also well-known YouTube vloggers.
In 2016, Franke told local TV station KSL that she started the channel to “just enjoy being with the kids as they are right now.”
She added: “I just want women who are still nursing babies, women who are still trying to get their families, women who are not sleeping through the night to see what it looks like at the finish line, to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s beautiful and it’s powerful and it’s worth it, it’s worth all the effort that families put into their family.”
The family’s channel reached an astonishing 2.5 million subscribers until being inexplicably removed in 2022.
Ruby and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, have since founded ConneXions, a parent counseling service.
Was Ruby Franke arrested?
Ruby was arrested and charged with two charges of aggravated child abuse on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Washington Post that they were arrested with Hildebrandt.
According to police, the couple was arrested for “intentionally or knowingly committing aggravated child abuse.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office website, Franke and Hildebrandt are still in detention, and no updates on their arrest have been provided.
Child abuse allegations surfaced in the summer of 2020, when Chad allegedly had his room taken away and was forced to sleep on a beanbag after pranking his younger brother.
Ruby also refused to bring her then-six-year-old daughter a packed lunch to school when she forgot it at home.
The Frankes defended their parenting in a 2020 interview with Insider, explaining that they provided their children “choices” while teaching them about the consequences of their acts.
