Utah parenting blogger Ruby Franke's accomplice and YouTube channel co-host Jodi Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse Wednesday as part of a plea deal.
The 45-year-old St. George woman's plea comes less than a week after Franke, 41, also pleaded guilty to four of six counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in connection with the physical and emotional abuse of two of her six children, with help from Hildebrandt.
"With my deepest regret and sorrow for my family and my children, guilty," Franke said when the judge asked how she pleaded to the last and sixth count of second-degree child abuse on Dec. 18.
Franke and Hildebrandt, who ran a joint parenting and lifestyle YouTube channel, were each charged with six counts of child abuse in September after police rescued two of Franke's children, who appeared malnourished and neglected, from Hildebrandt's home on Aug. 30.
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The first count of aggravated child abuse filed against Franke involved the physical abuse of one child, who was "forced to do physical tasks for hours and days at a time," including wall-sits, carrying boxes full of books up and down stairs, and outdoor work without shoes, according to court documents.
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"He was forced to stand in direct sunlight for several days. He was forced to remain outside at all hours of the day and night for extended periods of time. These actions resulted in repeated and serious sunburns with blistered and sloughing skin," court documents state, adding that the child was also denied sufficient food and water.
After the child attempted to "run away in July, his hands and feet were regularly bound."
The second count involves the severe emotional harm inflicted upon that child. Franke and Hildebrandt tried to convince the child that he was evil and possessed and "needed to willingly be obedient to avoid punishments."
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The third and fourth counts involve the severe emotional harm inflicted by another child, who was "subjected to the same treatment as her brother: she was isolated and forced to do physical tasks, remain outside, and denied food and water."
Franke and Hildebrandt also sought to convince the second child mentioned in the documents that she was evil and possessed and needed to be punished. She was also forced to "run barefoot on dirt roads for an extended period of time."
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Both women are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20.
One of Hildebrandt's neighbors reported the abuse to police after one of Franke's sons showed up on his doorstep.
"I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help, and he said he just came from a neighbor’s house, and we know there's been problems at this neighbor's house," a man said in an August 911 call reporting the alleged abuse obtained by Fox News Digital. "He's emaciated. He's got tape around his legs. He's hungry, and he's thirsty."
The boy apparently told the neighbor that even though he came from Hildebrandt's house, his mother is Ruby Franke, who lives in a different town. Police would later locate Franke's four other children at different locations, according to a police report. The boy also told police he climbed through Hildebrandt's window to escape and get help.
After rescuing Franke's youngest children from Hildebrandt's home on Aug. 30, police from Springfield and other local agencies began to search for her other four kids, who were not at Hildebrandt's home at the time. They made contact with the two eldest children, Chad and Shari Franke — both living away from home at the time of the incident — in an effort to find the other two juveniles.
Authorities eventually located the two children at another adult's house in American Fork, Utah.
In a recent video posted on their joint YouTube channel, which has since been taken down, Hildebrandt said pain can be a good thing for children of a certain age.
"Pain is meant to be your teacher. It's not your nemesis. It's your ally. Pain is not bad. … Pain is here to support you to grow and develop," she said.
