Ruby Franke doco: ‘Disturbing’ never-before-seen footage inside home of child abuser horrifies viewers

Disturbing footage shows Ruby Franke grabbing her child's face and covering her mouth to stop her from speaking. Photo / Hulu

Disturbing footage filmed inside the home of a convicted child abuser has been released as part of a chilling new documentary.

The newly released Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke lays bare the horrific story of the disgraced mummy vlogger behind the once-popular 8 Passengers channel on YouTube.

Mother of six Franke was jailed for up to 60 years in February last year after she pleaded guilty to accusations of starving and abusing her two youngest children.

Her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, also pleaded guilty to her involvement in the abuse and received the same sentence.

Their horrific crimes were initially exposed after Franke’s 12-year-old and 9-year-old were rescued from Hildebrandt’s home in August 2023, emaciated, malnourished and showing signs of severe physical abuse.

Now a new Disney+ doco has given a harrowing account of what happened inside Franke’s US$5 million ($8.7m) Utah mansion after the family provided over 1000 hours of archival footage.

Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt. Photo / Hulu

‘Chilling’ footage exposes Ruby Franke

The unseen clips paint a disturbing picture of how the 43-year-old punished her kids and the efforts she took to ensure she got what she needed for her videos.

In one never-before-seen home video, the mum – who was separated from her husband, Kevin, for a year before she was arrested – physically grabs one of her young children and covers her mouth when she interrupts her while filming.

“You get down and you be quiet. This isn’t your turn, now sit,” Franke said, before adding, “We’re gonna cut that out.”

It captures what some have described as the “mask slipping” on the mum who showcased only a “perfect” family life on social media.

Family vlogger Ruby Franke was jailed for child abuse in February 2024. Photo / Hulu

In another video, Franke threatens to “cut your [toy cat’s] head right off” when scolding a small child for breaking something in the house.

To illustrate her point, Franke put her fingers around the cat’s neck in a scissors shape.

Kevin and the two eldest children, Shari, 21, and Chad, 20, are interviewed for the documentary, with Franke’s former husband stating that “for Ruby love is obedience and the moment you disobey me, you’re going to fear me”.

He also explained she was able to conceal what was going on by exiling him from the family home because he was “infesting the family”.

‘Satanic possessed trances’

After convincing him their marriage was in “serious jeopardy”, Franke banned Kevin from having contact with their children and soon after began living with therapist Jodi Hildebrandt.

The Frankes had initially turned to the religious counsellor to help Chad navigate his difficult teen years, but she quickly became a prominent figure in the home.

“After Jodi came into the picture, weird things started happening in our house,” Kevin said.

“Jodi would go into these possessed trances and she would start speaking in other voices.

Jodi Hildebrandt. Photo / Hulu

“Ruby believed that it was meant to be and me and her were meant to help Jodi overcome this.”

Footage of Hildebrandt’s “satanic” episodes is shown in the doco, originally created by Hulu, and shows her sitting inside a small room with her head pressed up against a wall as her face writhes in agony.

At one point the therapist can be seen lying on the floor as she repeatedly hits her own chest as Franke tries to stop her.

Another shows her wearing a hooded jumper while sitting in the corner of a room with her head in her hands, as she whispers to herself: “She’s mine.”

Viewers left ‘heartbroken’ by abuse

Social media users have been horrified by the unseen footage, with many labelling it “disturbing”, “chilling” and “harrowing”.

“This absolutely shattered my heart watching it,” one commented.

“I don’t know if I can watch this. This is devastating,” said another.

As another said: “Her having her hand over the daughter’s mouth broke my heart.”

One clip featuring Chad in which Franke instructs him to “fake being happy” also struck a chord with viewers.

“8 passengers? More like 6 prisoners,” remarked one.

“How do you tell a child to fake being happy?” asked another.

Another said watching the doco “broke” them.

The Franke scandal first emerged after her 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrandt’s home and went to a neighbour for help.

After police were called, the child told investigators his mother would bind him with ropes. When the restraints cut him, he said she would treat the wounds with cayenne pepper.

She also punished Chad by banning him from his bedroom and forcing him to sleep on a living room beanbag for months.

Franke’s lawyer had tried to push the blame on Hildebrandt after the partner’s guilty plea – arguing the therapist “systematically isolated” the mother from her family and pushed her towards abuse.

Franke’s husband, Kevin, filed for divorce after the arrest.

Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke is available to watch on Disney+ and on Apple TV in New Zealand.