Ruby Franke, a social media influencer from the Utah State of the United States who ran the now-defunct family YouTube channel "8 Passengers," was arrested Wednesday on child abuse charges after authorities found a malnourished minor with open wounds and duct tape on their extremities, officials announced.
According to NBC News, Franke's business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, was also arrested on the same charges. The two regularly collaborate on relationship and parenting advice videos for Hildebrandt's life counselling service, ConneXions. ConneXions has been criticised in the past for its teachings about parenting, including prioritising the organisation's "principles of truth" over a person's children.
According to Fox 13's report, it was Hildebrandt's residence from which the child fled, and neighbours informed the police that the child appeared severely undernourished and in poor health, with visible wounds and duct tape wrapped around their limbs.
The child knocked on the door and asked for food and water, but the neighbour noticed duct tape on the child's ankles and wrists and called the police, documents state.
"The condition of the juvenile was so severe that they were seen by Santa Clara-Ivins emergency medical services and transported to a local area hospital," the police said.
After the first child was taken to the hospital, another child was discovered in the home and was found to be malnourished as well, officers reported.
"The Department of Child and Family Services was contacted," a statement from the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department reads, "and in a joint effort with the Springville Police Department, four minor children were taken into the care of the Department of Child and Family Services."
