Who Are Ruby Franke’s Parents? What They’ve Said About Their Disgraced Vlogger Daughter (and What Happened to Their Own YouTube Careers After Her Arrest)

Mar. 15, 2025

“What brief communications we had with her she accused us of either things that never happen(ed) or she grossly exaggerated the events that did,” Chad Griffiths and Jennifer Griffiths wrote in a letter addressed to the judge and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in 2023, perKSL.

They continued, “She was delusional. She was so deeply brainwashed we could not recognize her.”

Franke — a Utah mom of six who amassed 2.5 million followers and was criticized for her controversial parenting advice on her YouTube channel 8 Passengers — was arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse in August 2023. Police said in a statement that the arrest came after her then-12-year-old son escaped from the home of the family’s live-in therapist,Jodi Hildebrandt, and sought food and water from a neighbor. Hildebrandt, Franke’s podcasting partner and therapist, was arrested on the same charges.

Jennifer Griffiths/ Instagram ; Moms of Truth/ Instagram

In December 2023,Franke pleaded guiltyto four counts of aggravated child abuse in exchange for two of the counts to be dropped. Her attorneys blamed Hildebrandt for distorting the YouTuber’s “sense of morality” and influencing her to abuse her children.

Franke and Hildebrandt each received four 15-year sentences set to run consecutively, but they’ll not serve over 30 years due to Utah law, perBusiness Insider.

Chad and Jennifer didn’t attend their daughter’s sentencing hearing and instead wrote a letter to the judge asking him to show “as much mercy” as possible.

Jennifer Griffiths/ Instagram

The couple are also missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2022, they left on atwo-year missionin Serbia.

Chad and Jennifer have five children — Franke, Ellie Mecham, Julie Griffiths Deru, Bonnie Hoellein and Beau Griffiths — and at least 22 grandchildren.Franke’s sisters, Mecham, Hoellein and Deru, are also influencers andposted a joint statementon Instagram in 2023 after their sister was arrested.

“Ms. Hildebrandt was the sole source of what was right or wrong and discouraged people making their own life choices,” he told the court, per KSL. “A recurring theme was the principle of separation and isolation, which the leader routinely prescribed.”

Chad and Jennifer have only spoken publicly about their daughter’s child abuse case during her sentencing hearing in February 2024. At the time, the couple were still residing in Serbia, but they wrote a letter that was filed in court.

In it, Chad and Jennifer told the judge that they noticed a change in Franke in the summer of 2020 and that their communication with her over the last three years had been brief. The couple also claimed that Franke was “delusional” and “deeply brainwashed.”

The Griffiths wrote that two months after they learned that Franke had abused their grandchildren, she sent them a postcard with a “tender apology.” They claimed she also expressed gratitude for her arrest, writing that she “felt the mighty wakeup call was a huge blessing.”

Chad and Jennifer were not interviewed for the Hulu docuseriesDevil in the Family.

Jennifer Griffiths and Chad Griffiths pose for a photo together at Avala Tower in October 2022.Chad Griffiths/ Instagram

Chad Griffiths/ Instagram

Chad and Jennifer have not posted a video on their YouTube channelsince August 2023. ThoughChad’s last poston his Instagram feed was also around that time, Jennifer shared her first post after almost a year of silence in July 2024.

On July 25, sheshared a montage of photosof her family attending a rodeo and captioned it, “It’s been awhile, I’m glad to be back.🇺🇸.”

Hermost recent postwas in November 2024, in which she celebrated her and Chad’s 44th wedding anniversary. “Returned to the place where we were married and sealed together for time and all Eternity 44 years ago today,” she captioned a series of photos of them standing in front of a temple in Utah. “We are in it for the long haul!”

Jennifer continued, “I can tell you that what ever struggles, disappointments and heart aches we’ve experienced have only made us closer as a couple, more appreciative of the covenants we’ve made."

source: people.com