Officials have released select journal entries from YouTuber and convicted child abuser Ruby Franke this week that reveal the extent of her abuse toward her kids.
The vlogger was recently sentenced alongside ex-business partner Jodi Hildebrandt to multiple years in prison after four convictions of aggravated child abuse.
Before then, Franke detailed several first-hand instances of harming her children, according to a largely redacted personal journal shared by the Washington County Attorney's Office.
Throughout the journal, Franke largely focused on two of her six children in particular, redacted to only the letters "E" and "R."
Ruby Franke appears in court for a Dec. 18, 2023 hearing.Ron Chaffin/St. George News via AP
In an early entry in the journal dated July 11, 2023, Franke recalled a "big day for evil" when she wrote that her daughter "manipulates me." In the same entry, Franke later described a moment with her son "R," where she told him to "stand in the sun with his sun hat." After she claimed he was "defiant" and refused to do so, Franke wrote that her son's "demon stays in the shade," so she pushed him into the sun and later harmed him with a cactus.
"I come back with a cactus poker. When I poke his back to get in the sun, [R] doesn't even flinch," Franke wrote. "I poke him on the neck. He is in a trance & doesn't appear to feel anything. Jodi taps him on the cheeks to wake him up."
The mother then asked her son if he knew that his family and "savior" loved him, before pouring mop water on him after he continued to stay in the shade. "I take my mop water and go to [R]," she wrote. "I show [R] the water. Then I pour the water on [R]. It's hot outside. 'It feels good, doesn't it?' Yes."
On that same day, Franke wrote about her son being pushed in a pool. She then detailed putting "my hands in his face" and asking if he's ever "heard someone talk underwater."
"I know [R] is in there somewhere. I know deep down under all this anger you can hear me," she wrote. "It may sound like I'm underwater with you but hear me, 'I love you.' "
YouTuber Ruby Franke.moms_of_truth/Instagram
Among the many other instances of non-redacted information, Franke wrote about her daughter being "manipulative" and attempting to break a "two-day fast."
A press release from the attorney's office after Franke's arrest in 2023 accused her of "permitting serious physical injury to the victims in three different ways: (1) a combination of multiple physical injuries or torture, (2) starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life, and (3) causing severe emotional harm."
Franke wrote that her daughter "flips out and begins ranting" after Franke insisted she would not be allowed to eat for an additional day. "All day, [E] makes rhymes about 'My mom starves me and calls it fasting.' 'My mom won't lift two fingers & bring me food because all she does is lie on the bed & eat brownies.' 'My mom says she is the most loving mom in the world — blah blah blah.' "
After writing about physical "intervention" for her daughter, Franke wrote she cut her daughter's hair and covered her in "dog wash" water.
"I cut more off [E's] head. We doused her w/ water in the dog wash. [E] said she wanted to run away. Jodi told [E] she has no idea what is waiting for her."
The remainder of the journals offer a disturbing look at Franke accusing her children of "stealing water," threatening to "buzz" her daughter's hair and more.
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The public release of the redacted journals comes weeks after Franke's sentencing, in which she received four separate prison sentences for one to 15 years, TODAY, KSL 5 and KUTV reported.
Utah's Deseret News also reported at the time that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide the length of each sentence, while Business Insider noted she wouldn't serve more than 30 years due to to a Utah law about consecutive sentences.
Franke's ex-business partner and therapist Hildebrandt — who she claimed directed the abuse — also received the same sentence. In December, they both signed plea agreements to four second-degree felonies, with aggravated child abuse charges dropped each.
Winward Law, the firm representing Franke, shared in a previous statement to CBS News after their client's plea that she was made to believe that Hildebrandt “had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement.”
Franke was ultimately arrested on Aug. 30 after her 12-year-old son, Russell, escaped the home they were living in with Hildebrandt and asked a neighbor to call the police. She admitted to abusing her two youngest children in the 10-page plea agreement.
