Ruby Franke: Crucial piece of 'graphic' evidence that proved she was 100% guilty of 'torturing' her own children
Channel 5 documentary Our Evil Mother: The Ruby Franke Scandal is a hard watch
Our Evil Mother: The Ruby Franke Scandal tells the horrifying true crime of a mum-of-six “momfluencer” who cruelly abused her children for years before she was finally exposed – but how was she caught?
The feature-length documentary airs on Channel 5 this week (Tuesday, June 23). It looks at the rise and fall of Ruby Franke, a popular influencer who shared parenting tips and videos of her family life online.
However, Ruby’s harsh parenting style began to raise eyebrows among her fans, leading to complaints, petitions, and calls to child services and the police.
What the authorities eventually uncovered was heinous abuse, and it had been going on for years… So how was Ruby Franke caught?
***Warning: contains distressing descriptions and images of child abuse***
How was Ruby Franke caught?
Ruby Franke subjected her children to years of abuse, of differing levels. But, before she was eventually arrested, her crimes had escalated to severe cruelty and even torture.
She starved them of food and water, physically assaulted them, kept them locked up, and humiliated them daily. Ruby put cayenne pepper in their wounds, shaved their hair off, and blamed them for the abuse. They were home schooled, and isolated from any other friends and family.
In August 2023, Ruby’s 12-year-old boy – the second youngest – escaped the house he had been confined in – that of Ruby Franke’s business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. Having crawled out of a window, he knocked at the door of a neighbour’s house asking for food and water. He was covered in open wounds all over his body, and had duct tape over his ankles.
The neighbour, sobbing in distress at the sight of the boy, called the police. Officers later found Ruby’s nine-year-old girl in the house. She was suffering from severe malnourishment and injuries. The young girl had a shaven head, and was terrified. The children had been locked up in a panic room in Jodi’s house. Both spent three days in hospital.
At this point, police had a mountain of proof against Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. Then, during a search of both their houses, police officers discovered a “crucial piece of evidence that proved her guilt” beyond a shadow of doubt – her journal. It was the final nail in the coffin in how Ruby Franke was caught.
What did it say in Ruby’s journal?
Ruby Franke’s personal journal laid out “in graphic detail” the extent of the abuse. In her words, she described her children as “selfish”, and “spawns of Satan”.
It gave the police officers a disturbing insight inside the mind of Ruby. In the diary, she gave descriptions of the abuse, and her “justifications” for the abuse. It became evidently clear that she had been systematically abusing and torturing her kids, and subjecting them to “labour-camp” conditions.
One particular passage described in detail how Ruby and her life-coach and business Jodi drove out into the Utah desert – and dangerous heat – in a truck. Ruby forced her youngest daughter, who was only eight or nine at the time, to run behind the car in the summer heat. She was then told to “jump into the cactus” as a punishment.
In a plea agreement, Jodi Hildebrandt stated that she either tortured the children or was aware of the abuse. She admitted to forcing one of Ruby Franke’s daughters to “jump into a cactus multiple times”.
Ruby Franke believed her children were ‘evil’ and ‘possessed’
Mormon Ruby Franke had increasingly disturbing views about religion and disciplining her children. She told her children that they were “evil and possessed” and needed to “repent”.
In the handwritten journal, Ruby also chronicled the day-to-day series of events as she tried to “exorcise” her children.
Meanwhile, Ruby’s escaped son also told officers that he and his sister had been forced to stand in the hot sun, tied down to weights, and forced to jump on a trampoline all day. At times, they were also forced to do chores in the blistering sun without sun cream causing them severe sun burn.
Authorities believed that Ruby Franke abused her children due to a combination of religious extremism, controlling psychological manipulation, and deeply ingrained authoritarian parenting beliefs.
The abuse escalated after she aligned herself with therapist and life coach Jodi Hildebrandt. Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt justified the horrific abuse by convincing themselves the children were “evil”, “possessed”, or had to be punished to “feed” them out of spiritual darkness.
Ruby stated Jodi manipulated her desire for strict parenting and perfection. She accused her former business partner of convincing her the children were a “dark” influence and that extreme measures were required to break their wills.
Read more: New documentaries and true crime on TV and streaming in June 2026
