The niece of Jodi Hildebrandt claims her aunt was the ‘mastermind’ behind Youtuber Ruby Franke’s ‘abusive’ parenting tactics and has revealed the extent of alleged trauma she endured as a child while living under her roof.
Said she was blindfolded
Jessi Hildebrandt said she was tied up, had duct tape placed over her mouth, was blindfolded, isolated for twelve hours out of the day and even forced to sleep outside in the snow when living with her aunt as a child more than a decade ago.
The disgraced influencers were arrested in Utah in August after Franke’s ’emaciated’ son alerted police to allegedly horrific neglect.
Jessi, told KUTV that Hildebrandt was the ‘mastermind’ behind the alleged abuse inflicted by her business partner Franke on her own children.
About Youtuber Ruby Franke
Franke, 41, ran a controversial parent counselling service, ConneXions, along with business partner Hildebrandt, 54, a licensed mental health counselor.
The Mormon YouTuber had millions of subscribers and online followers through her 8 Passengers channel about parenting but viewers repeatedly complained about the way she treated her children.
Franke and Hildebrandt face six counts of felony child abuse after police rescued two of Ruby’s six children at Hildebrandt’s home.
Both children appeared to be malnourished, and police then raided Franke’s home nearby to locate her other children.
Accusations levied against her
Hildebrandt has been accused of ‘destroying’ people’s lives through her counseling program – that pitted spouses against each other and focused men’s teachings on ‘porn, sex and lust.’
Jessi said she hoped her aunt would not be ‘sidelined’ in the abuse case.’
She is so connected to what is happening and yes, Ruby needs to be held accountable because she made those choices, she’s just as guilty, but Jodi’s been doing this for much longer’ she said.
Jessi listed the grave abuses she alleges she experienced while under Jodi’s care, including: ‘being tied, I experienced being duct taped, I experienced being blindfolded, I experienced severe isolation, I experienced severe emotional, spiritual and psychological abuse.’
