YouTuber mom Ruby Franke and husband Kevin secretly separated 13 months ago over ‘a difference of opinion about their parenting’ before her arrest for child abuse

YouTuber Ruby Franke secretly split from her husband Kevin 13 months ago due to a “difference of opinions over their parenting” before his arrest for child abuse.

Ruby, 41, was charged with six counts of child abuse after her 12-year-old son was found with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs.

She was arrested with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt on August 30 on charges of aggravated child abuse.

Kevin’s attorney, Randy Kester, said the 44-year-old father had not seen his children and did not know that Ruby had moved them to Ivans, Utah, about four hours from Salt Lake City. Law and crime reported.

Kester claimed that Ruby “controlled Kevin emotionally because she knew how much he valued their marriage.”

The 41-year-old woman was charged with six counts of child abuse after her 12-year-old son was found with open wounds and duct tape on his limbs.

“It was his desire to be able to reunite with his family and preserve his marriage,” Kester told the outlet.

“Kevin never had reason to believe his children were being abused.”

Talk to Page six Kester could not comment on the marriage as he did not represent Ruby, but confirmed the couple were still legally married.

The Utah-based attorney also claimed their marriage began to crumble after Ruby began working with Hildebrandt.

“(He says) she manipulated him in conjunction with Ruby, that she’s sort of spearheading the destruction of his life and the destruction of his family,” Kester said.

In her first public appearance last Friday, Ruby (pictured) contrasted her picture-perfect social media presence when she learned she and her partner would remain behind bars without bail.

Kevin is working to regain custody of his minor children who remain in state custody.

Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested on two counts of aggravated child abuse in late August. They were slapped with four more charges after being jailed.

In her first public appearance last Friday, Ruby contrasted her picture-perfect social media presence with news that she and her partner would remain behind bars without bail.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ruby’s family revealed they hope she will be “shelved forever” while distancing themselves from their estranged relative.

Ruby’s sisters-in-law Cynthia and Jennifer Franke said they believed the abuse allegations against the mother-of-six, adding they were “shocked” and “disgusted”.

During a court appearance last week, Ruby made astonishing claims that one of her minor children had sexually abused one of their siblings and other children.

“I don’t know what to believe about her. I think she’s lying,” Cynthia said.

“She blames her two children to validate what she did to her children. At this point I think she will say anything to save herself.

Kevin (pictured) is working to regain custody of his minor children who remain in state custody.

Cynthia, who is the wife of Kevin’s older brother Ruby’s husband Alan, said: “We had no idea what was going on in the family.”

Jennifer Franke, 42, who is married to Kevin’s brother Aaron, said: “Ruby’s not really my cup of tea. I never really liked her since day one. She always thought she was better than everyone around her.

“If you look up narcissist in the dictionary, there will be a picture of Ruby.”

Jennifer made it clear that her family is “not affiliated” with Ruby, adding that she has received a lot of hate since her arrest.

“None of us Frankes knew about the abuse,” she said, adding that she hadn’t seen Ruby or Kevin in about a decade.

Jennifer added that the rest of the Frankes despised Ruby for starting her popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers.

Both Ruby and Hildebrandt have previously been criticized for their teachings on parenting – collaborating on Hildebrandt’s life advice service, ConneXions.

Jennifer said the family learned Jodi had moved into the Franke family home sometime between 2021 and 2022.

Jennifer said she heard at one point that Ruby and Kevin started going to Jodi and her company for marriage counseling.

“It was cult. Kevin was in a group of men at ConneXions, he had a checklist of what he had to do to be better and if you did it they would praise you and if you didn’t they would chastise you.” , she said.

“When Jodi moved into the family’s marital home in Springville, one of the first things she did was separate Ruby and Kevin, it was almost like the movie Wars of the Roses.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ruby’s sisters-in-law Cynthia (left) and Jennifer Franke (right) say she lies and “says anything to save herself”.

“Ruby lived on one side of the house and Kevin lived on the other. Kevin couldn’t talk to Ruby without Jodi present.

Kevin moved in July 2022. He lived in a townhouse near the family home where he had a ConneXions sitter who stayed with him in the townhouse and watched over him.

Jennifer said Ruby and Kevin’s eldest Shari, 20, came to her and told her she wasn’t allowed to talk to her father.

“Shari told us that Kevin was evicted in July 2022, a time when we never knew about Jodi and the influence she would have on the family.

“At the time, Shari told us, ‘My dad doesn’t talk to me. He did not respond to phone calls, emails, etc.

She went on to tell Jennifer: “My dad thinks she’s a horrible person, they (Ruby and Jodi) are brainwashing her into believing she’s a bad person.”

“Shari tried to contact her father after she moved, but he blocked everyone on social media, her cell phone and emails.

“I feel bad for Kevin, he’s almost brainwashed. I feel sorry for him.’

“I’ve known Kevin since I was 11, he’s a good guy. Ruby and Jodi brainwashed him into moving out and abandoning his family.

“After Ruby was arrested, my husband called Kevin and told him that if he needed anything to let him know. Kevin responded by saying, “gaslighting is real. It’s messed up.

“In a way, I think Kevin is also, to some extent, a victim, he was always the more caring one in the relationship.

“I keep wondering why Kevin didn’t come back for his kids. I have to believe that none of us knows the whole story.

Ruby first rose to fame thanks to her strict parenting style which exploded online and earned her “millions” of dollars, she claimed.

Ruby Franke’s home in Springville, Utah, is shown. “Ruby lived on one side of the house and Kevin lived on the other. Kevin couldn’t talk to Ruby without Jodi present,” Ruby’s sister-in-law said.

Ruby (left), who ran the now-defunct 8 Passengers channel, was arrested with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt (right) on August 30.

She has amassed over 2.2 million followers for documenting their daily endeavors on social media, alongside her husband Kevin.

The couple stopped uploading videos in January 2022 and the 8 Passengers page was completely removed from the website earlier this year.

When asked why she left YouTube, months later, she replied that she chose to stop uploading videos because she wanted to “save her children.”

In July, she was called out online after a video surfaced of her allowing her daughter to go hungry after the girl forgot to pack her own lunch before school.

In a video posted in 2020, Ruby said her daughter’s teacher texted her, telling her the youngster didn’t have anything to eat for lunch.

She said all of her children were responsible for making their own lunches in the morning, so she wouldn’t drop off food for her daughter to teach her a lesson.

Ruby said: “I hope (it’s) she’ll be hungry and come home and say ‘it was really painful being hungry all day, I’ll make sure I always have lunch with Me. “

“The natural result is that she will just have to be hungry.”

It is this parenting style that has helped women gain fame and a huge following on YouTube.