Momfluencer Ruby Franke sentenced the most severe penalty available under Utah law
Momfluencer, Ruby Franke, and her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were sentenced to 4 to 60 years in prison after four convictions each of aggravated child abuse that one prosecutor described as "concentration camp" conditions for her children…
Initially, Franke was charged with six counts but pleaded not guilty to two of the counts as part of a plea deal to testify against Hildebrandt.
During Franke's statement before sentencing, Franke addressed her children directly saying:
"To my babies, my six little chicks. You are part of me. I was the mama duck who was consistently waddling you to safety. I can see now that over the past four years, I was in a deep undercurrent that led us to danger. I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated ... I took from you all that was soft and safe, and good. I took from you, your mother. How terrifying this must have been for you. I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls. You're so precious to me. I'm sorry.”
While Franke’s statement is lengthy in its entirety, Hildebrandt had this to say before her sentencing:
“I sincerely love these children. I desire for them to heal physically and emotionally. One of the reasons I did not go to trial is I did not want them to emotionally relive the experience, which would have been detrimental to them.
My hope and prayer is that they will heal and move forward to have beautiful lives. I’m willing to submit to what the state feels would be an appropriate amount of time served to make retribution as an outcome.”
After court, Franke’s attorney’s spokesperson chatted with TODAY and stated, “As far as we know, Ruby Franke does not have any intentions of appealing the sentence. She has taken full responsibility for her actions and is prepared to serve her time in prison.”