Former YouTube star, known for her parenting advice channel, pleads guilty to child abuse

Ruby Franke was the host of '8 Passengers' on YouTube. (Image: YouTube)

A woman from Utah, US, who ran a very popular parenting advice channel on YouTube has pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse.

Ruby Franke, 41, has been accused of starving and abusing her children after her son escaped a Utah home. Franke said she pleaded guilty “with my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children,” BBC reported.

According to The New York Times, Franke, a former YouTube star, was known for documenting her strict parenting style. The woman, who once boasted more than two million subscribers for her parenting blog was arrested along with her business partner in Utah in September. At that time, two of out of her six children appeared malnourished, and one of them had duct tape on his ankles and wrists as well as open wounds, the police said. She will remain incarcerated until she is sentenced in February 2024.

Franke was the host of YouTube channel “8 Passengers”, which has been removed from the platform since. In the videos, she depicted her own parenting style which included refusing her own children food as a form of punishment.

As per the report by The New York Times, Franke was arrested in September at the home of her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, in Ivins, Utah, and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse.

She was arrested after her 12-year-old son climbed out the window of Hildebrandt’s home and went to a neighbour’s house in search of food and water.