Officials on Friday released handwritten journal entries, which detailed months of abuse by convicted child abuser, YouTuber Ruby Franke. Ms Ruby, who is known for offering parenting advice to millions online, received a sentence of up to 60 years in prison last month.
This was after she pleaded guilty to child abuse charges in December, against her six children.
It must be noted that in February, Ms Ruby received four separate prison sentences of one to 15 years each. In addition, Jodi Hildebrandt, her business partner, received the same sentence.
Now, in the latest turn of events, the prosecutors have released her journal, which includes heavily redacted entries. As per a report by NBC News, Ms Ruby in the entries repeatedly insisted that her son was possessed by a demon.
The report mentioned one of the entries from last year July 11, where Ms Ruby wrote that it was a “big day for evil”.
Describing the day, Ms Ruby mentioned an incident where her son was pushed into the water and she held his hand over his nose and mouth. Detailing the incident Ms Ruby wrote that she did it to help the boy.
Citing another entry, the report stated that Ms Ruby called her daughter “manipulative” and she further described how she forced her to stand in the rain for two hours.
While releasing the journal, officials redacted her children's names and identified her 9-year-old daughter, as “E” and the 12-year-old son, as “R.”
In the July 11, 2023 entry, Ms Ruby wrote, “R was told to stand in the sun w/his sun hat. He is defiant. ... R or I should say his demon stays in the shade. I push R into the sun. R comes back. I come back with a cactus poker. When I poke his back to get in the sun R doesn't even flinch. I poke him on the neck. He is in a trance & doesn't appear to feel anything. Jodi taps him on the cheeks to wake him up.”
In the next day's entry, Ms Ruby talked about her daughter E and how she cut her daughter's hair off and “doused” her with water in the “dog wash.”
As per Washington County Attorney's Office, “The women were arrested after Ms. Franke's 12-year-old son climbed out of the window of Ms Hildebrandt's Ivins, Utah residence, ran to a neighbour's home, and asked for help. The neighbour observed duct tape on the boy's ankles and wrists, severe wounds, and malnourishment. He quickly contacted law enforcement who, upon arrival, learned that potentially more children remained inside Ms Hildebrandt's home and in harm's way.”
Upon searching the house, the officials found Ms Ruby's 9-year-old daughter petrified and hiding in the closet.
Talking about the abuses against the children, Utah prosecutor Eric Clarke said, “The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment.”
In court, Ms Ruby was in tears following the sentencing and said, “I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong. I was led to believe that this world was an evil place, filled with cops who control, hospitals that injur, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need abuse.”
