HIDDΕΝ HORRORS

Ruby Franke built a following of millions with her YouTube parenting videos and advice on raising 6 kids. But now she's behind bars without bail, charged with aggravated child abuse

- EMILY PALMER

Too small for his baggy shirt and shorts, the sandy-blond 12-year-old boy with welts and sores on his wrists and duct tape on his ankles stood at a neighbor's doorstep pleading for help.

The boy begged him for food and water-and to call police. "His ankles are taped up, and he won't tell us why," the man told 911. "This boy has been... This kid has obviously been... I think he's been-he's been detained," he said, his voice breaking with emotion. "He says what's happened to him is his fault."

The boy, Russell Franke, would later tell police officers how he climbed out the window of the Ivins, Utah, home of a family friend, therapist and life coach Jodi Hildebrandt, where he had been staying with his mother, Ruby Franke, a YouTube-famous parenting influencer with millions of followers, and younger sister Eve. He said his hunger and thirst drove him to run for help the morning of Aug. 30. Police searched the house and found Eve, 10, also emaciated, and later arrested Ruby, 41, and her therapist and business associate Hildebrandt, 54. Each was charged with six counts of aggravated felony child abuse, including starvation, causing physical injuries and severe emotional harm.

In search warrants the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department alleges Russell Franke told them he had been tied to the ground with ropes and that the women rubbed cayenne pepper and honey into his wounds. Both Russell and Eve were taken to a local hospital and treated for malnourishment, then placed in the care of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).

Ruby—who days earlier filmed a video on improving relationships in the home where the kids were allegedly being tortured —and Jodi are being held without bail at the Washington County jail. Neither has entered a plea.