Parenting advice YouTuber Ruby Franke of Utah set to take plea agreement in child abuse case

By AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press

A Utah mother of six who gave parenting advice via a once-popular YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” has reached a plea agreement on charges that she abused and starved two of her children. Ruby Franke’s attorney said she did so while under the influence of a relationship counselor who led her to a “distorted sense of morality.” Winward Law said Franke was expected to enter a plea agreement Monday. Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested on Aug. 30 after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped from Hildebrandt’s house in Ivins, Utah, and asked a neighbor to call police. The boy was emaciated and had duct tape around his ankles and wrists.