Ruby Franke, the mother of six behind the family YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” has been charged with six counts of felony child abuse by the Washington County Attorney in Utah, a spokesperson for the attorney’s office confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday.
Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested last week after law enforcement found Franke’s 12-year-old son emaciated and with open wounds and duct tape on his wrists and ankles. The boy had climbed out of a window of Hildebrandt’s home and ran to a neighbor house for help, according to a probable cause affidavit acquired by NBC News.
Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was found at Hildebrandt’s home in a similar malnourished condition, according to the affidavit. Officials said the condition of the children was so severe that they were transported to a local area hospital. Franke’s other four children were taken into the care of Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services.
Hildebrandt was also charged with six counts of felony child abuse. Each count carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000, the county attorney told NBC News in an emailed statement.
Withholding meals as punishment was one example I saw in a different article.
In comparison, the Geneva Convention literally forbids doing this to enemy POWs.
Ahhh child abuse. What a great parenting technique.
Missing one lunch is hardly abuse. I forgot to grab my lunch on many occasions when I was a kid and nobody even called my parents about it. I was fine.
That doesn’t make her not a bad parent for all the other shit she did but if it was just this one thing it wouldn’t be that bad.
There are some things that should never be used in punishment. Food, safety/security, water, sleep, education, housing, and love. She broke several of those rules when she refused to bring her kid lunch.
Child protection caseworker and previous child of abuse here: this is absolutely correct. Punishment should NEVER involve removal of a basic necessity. It should always amount to removal of a want, not a need. Taking away dessert, access to video games etc. are the only acceptable forms of punishment. This follows research that shows that taking a child’s basic necessities from them doesn’t improve behaviour, it merely adapts their attachment style to dysfunctional.
Wanted to add, most elementary schools have a policy that requires students to eat lunch. Kids don’t learn on am empty stomach.
Were you six years old?
Roughly, and my parents worked an hour away from the school too so it’s not like they could have brought me a lunch in time anyway if they’d been notified.
Forgetting it accidentally or not having any food does not make you a bad person. Purposely withholding food from someone in your care without the means to get their own certainly is abusive.
I agree, she shouldn’t have her kids taken away for making them skip one meal. It’s bad, but not horrific Tied up and injured on the other hand…
Not defending her other actions, but the case I heard on NPR this morning they are using against her, was her daughter was assigned to make her own lunch to take to school. She didn’t do it and then had the school call this woman to bring her lunch. Mom said the natural consequence of failing to make your lunch and bring it was to not have lunch. On this ONE incident, the mom is right. We have to teach our children there are natural consequences for bad decisions.
But it sounds like this one incident is the least of her charges.
If your 6 year old goes to school without lunch that’s on you, not her. It might be appropriate for a 12/13 year old to be responsible for their own school lunches, but no way in hell is a first grader mature enough.
IMO it’s good and fine for a 5+ year old to make their own lunch, but at that age it’s absolutely important and necessary for parents to double check that it’s fine and they’ve got it with them.
Yeah, the punishment for forgetting to make your lunch at 5 should be mom or dad makes you something boring and bland instead, not they let you starve for a day.
I don’t even think there should be a punishment. Children aren’t tiny adults with the same kinds of obligations we have. If they don’t make their lunch their parents should make them a nice lunch, it should just be part of the kids routine of learning life skills to make lunch.
I think you misheard. This NPR article https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197289217/ruby-franke-utah-youtube-child-abuse from 5 days ago mentions that as part of the controversy over her, but doesn’t mention it in connection with the charges. There’s another short one from 2 hours ago that doesn’t bring up the lunches at all.