Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing
Shari Franke, the daughter of convicted child abuser Ruby Franke, has shared what she said to her mom after reporting her to child protective services.
Shari is the eldest daughter of Franke, the former YouTuber who rose to fame by sharing parenting advice and insights to her life in Utah on her channel, 8 Passengers.
In August 2023, Franke was arrested along with therapist Jodi Hildebrandt and admitted to having abused her two youngest children, not including Shari. However, Shari has now spoken out about her own alleged abuse in a memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom.
Shari had allegedly been disowned by Franke a year before her mom’s arrest, but she was still concerned for her younger siblings living with her mother.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Shari admitted that her ‘initial thought’ after her mom was arrested was that her siblings were ‘dead’.
The publication has shared an excerpt from Shari’s book which details an occasion on which Shari reported Franke, whose alleged abuse is said to have shifted from physical to more psychological after Hildebrandt entered their lives.
The excerpt describes how Franke’s face ‘contorted with anger and hurt’ after learning of Shari’s report.
“I can’t believe you called the police on me,” she allegedly told her daughter, adding: “After everything I’ve done for you, after all the sacrifices I’ve made. How could you betray me like that, Shari? How could you be so selfish?”
Shari remembered how the words hit her like ‘physical blows’, writing: “I stood my ground. [I reminded myself] that I wasn’t alone, that I had support beyond the toxic web of my family.”
The daughter responded to tell her mom she was ‘worried about the kids’ who she claimed had been ‘alone for five days’.
According to the memoir, Franke responded: “They’re fine. They’re old enough to take care of themselves. This is about you, Shari. Your jealousy, your need for attention.”
Ruby argued the call wasn’t about her, but instead about the ‘safety of [her] siblings’.
“It’s about doing what’s right,” she told her mom.
Franke responded: “What’s right? You have no idea what’s right. You’re just a child playing at being an adult. Your siblings are terrified of you now for calling the police on them. One day, Shari, you’ll come crawling back to me. Begging for my forgiveness. And it’ll be hard for me to give it to you, but I’ll be gracious.”
To that, Shari told her mom: “I’m not going to apologize for telling the truth.”
Franke claimed her daughter had ‘always hated’ her, accusing her of having ‘judged’ her and failing to appreciate the ‘sacrifices’ she’d made for her daughter.
Shari told her mom: “That’s not true. I never hated you, Mom. I was just scared of you.”
Looking back in the wake of her mom’s sentencing, which saw her receive four consecutive sentences of up to 15 years in prison, Shari has expressed belief that Franke won’t ‘ever fully comprehend or understand what she’s done’.
“I just hope that she can get the help she needs,” she added.
The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom is available now.
Full timeline of the Ruby Franke case
Starting a YouTube channel and initial suspicions
Franke started her parenting YouTube channel 8 Passengers with now ex-husband Kevin in 2015, amassing over 2.5 million subscribers before it was deleted in 2023 following the arrest.
Several subscribers became suspicious of child abuse, with a petition being signed for the police to investigate the family, citing the numerous questionable videos uploaded.
Franke joins ConneXions with Jodi Hildebrandt
The mum told critics in a 2021 interview for The Wrap that she was showing everyone ‘what a responsible mother looks like’.
She stopped uploading videos to the channel in 2022, joining Mormon therapist Hildebrandt’s ConneXions podcast. Their divisive opinions on subjects such as eating disorders, blaming rape victims, and criticising immigrants drew the wrong kind of attention.
Franke and Hildebrandt’s arrest
Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested on child abuse charges in August 2023.
The Santa Clara Public Safety Department were called to the Ivins neighbourhood in Utah after a neighbour was alerted by Franke’s ’emaciated’ 12-year-old son, who escaped to knock on their door to ask for help.
He had visible marks and wounds from duct tape put around his ankles, and asked for some food and water. Police found his 10-year-old sister in a ‘similar physical condition of malnourishment’ in Hildebrandt’s house.
Family members speak out
Franke’s oldest daughter, Shari, wrote on Instagram on the day of the arrests: “Today has been a big day.”
She continued: “Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We’ve been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up.”
In November, Kevin also officially filed for divorce from Franke, and called her actions to their children ‘horrific and inhumane’.
Franke and Hildebrandt are charged with six counts of child abuse
Just one week after their arrests, the pair were charged with six counts of felony child abuse.
YouTube banned Franke, deleting both 8 Passengers and ConneXions channels and blocking her from the social media platform.
Franke blames the abuse on Hildebrandt
Her attorneys released a statement that said: “Initially, Ms. Franke believed that Jodi Hildebrandt had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement. Ms. Hildebrandt took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous,” according to Fox13.
It blamed Hildebrandt solely for isolating Franke from her family completely, distorting her morality.
Franke pleads guilty
Just three days after the statement was released, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. A court had heard how she had tried to convince her youngest children they were ‘evil and possessed’.
Franke and Hildebrandt are sentenced to prison for child abuse
On 20 February 2024, Franke and Hildebrandt were convicted and given four separate prison sentences for one to 15 years, with the length of each sentence decided by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
During sentencing Franke apologised to her children and said she would ‘never stop crying for hurting their tender souls’.
She said: “My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you all that was soft and safe and good.”
The two women will not serve more than 30 years in a Federal Penitentiary because of a Utah law about consecutive sentences.
Additional words by Anish Vij.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
