A Utah woman, known for her educational advice on her YouTube channel, has been arrested for child abuse after her emaciated son fled in search of food, officials said.
Ruby Frank and her assistant, Judy Hildebrandt, were arrested, according to a statement from the Department of Public Safety in Ivins, a small city in southwestern Utah.
Frank ran the “8 Passengers” channel, which had more than two million followers and is no longer on YouTube, where she shared with her husband Kevin their experiences in raising their six children, and they gave parenting lessons that were so rigorous that many viewers complained about them.
The statement from the Ivins Department of Health said a person had called to report that a “appearing emaciated and malnourished” boy had jumped out of his window and begged for food and water.
The statement said the boy had “open wounds with adhesive tape around his limbs.”
A policeman said the boy, who appeared to be 12, had deep wounds as a result of being “tied with a rope”, according to the local St George News newspaper.
The statement indicated that the boy and another child, who was found in a nearby house, were taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment.
During a subsequent search of the house, evidence was found “consistent with the marks on the event”.
A total of four minor children have been removed from their parents’ custody by local police and family services officials, the statement said.
The St. George News reported that the two women were formally charged Friday in Washington County. Both are facing child abuse charges.
This was not the first time the family had come into conflict with Child and Family Services.
In 2020, officials were summoned to Frank’s home after one of the sons said on YouTube that for seven months he was forced to sleep on a beanbag chair as punishment for an infraction.
His parents justified this action to reporters by saying that the matter had been taken out of context.
This incident and others sparked angry criticism on the Internet, its owners blamed the Frank family for its harsh method of raising children, including preventing food as a form of educational firmness.
The St. George News reported that Frank and Hildebrandt were being held without the possibility of posting bail at a correctional facility in the nearby city of Hurricane.
No trial date has been set for this case. It was also not immediately clear what charges Kevin Frank, Robbie’s husband, might face.
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