When popular vlogger Ruby Franke was arrested for child abuse in August 2023, it quickly became one of the biggest trending stories in America. For years, the Frankes’ YouTube channel had documented a wholesome, happy family life, with nearly 3 million subscribers tuning in at its peak. But happy families are rarely what they seem. As the cracks began to show, the family turned to counselor Jodi Hildebrandt for guidance - and rapidly found themselves trapped in a nightmare. Only the Frankes know what went on inside their home.
This article delves into the lives of Ruby's husband Kevin and their children, Shari and Chad, in the aftermath of the case.
Ruby Franke's daughter speaks out about mom's arrest and her abusive childhood
Kevin Franke: Advocating for Child Welfare Reform
Kevin Franke filed for divorce from Ruby on November 30, 2023, roughly three months after she and Hildebrandt were arrested. Kevin wasn’t charged in relation to the criminal case. His legal team has asserted he separated from Ruby more than a year before to her arrest and had no knowledge of the abuse. Their divorce was finalized this March, roughly 25 years after they married. Prior to their separation, the Frankes began seeing Hildebrandt for marriage counseling in 2021. Kevin said that the following year Hildebrandt instructed the couple to separate in order to help their marriage and also ordered him to cut off communication from nearly everyone in his life.
Kevin gave his first public comments about the abuse case in July 2024. Speaking during a meeting of Utah’s Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel, he urged lawmakers to pass legislation addressing loopholes in the state’s child welfare laws that prevented authorities from intervening after neighbors and the couple’s eldest daughter reported concerns about the Franke children. He also called for the regulation of life coaches such as Hildebrandt, whom he said “preyed on the vulnerable, those who were seeking help.” When asked by reporters how much blame he assigns Ruby, Hildebrandt, or authorities for the abuse, Franke declined to specify and compared the saga to “a giant trainwreck.”
Per the terms of their divorce agreement, the former engineering professor at Brigham Young University now solely owns the Springville, Utah, home where the ex-couple once lived with their family. A local TV news station also reported Kevin was granted ownership of a 2.8-acre property in Scofield, about an hour southeast of Springville.
Read also: The Life of Chad Everett Harris
At the urging of the ex-husband and eldest daughter of imprisoned “momfluencer” Ruby Franke, the state of Utah is taking action to protect future child content creators. According to the Associated Press, Utah Governor Spencer Cox recently signed a bill into law requiring online creators who make more than $150,000 a year from content featuring children to set aside 15 percent of those earnings into a trust fund that the kids can access after turning 18. The new law also creates a pathway for children to have posts and videos they’re in removed.
Kevin Franke, who filed for divorce from Ruby following her August 2023 arrest, was a major proponent of the legislation. “Children cannot give informed consent to be filmed on social media, period,” he said this February. “Vlogging my family, putting my children into public social media, was wrong, and I regret it every day.”
Kevin has said he is proud of his daughter’s strength in confronting her family’s past. “She has played and will continue to play a crucial role in the healing of our family,” he said in a statement to ABC News. “I am grateful for her example and learn a lot from her vulnerability and courage. She has a powerful voice and will make a positive impact in this world. I love my daughter.”
Ruby’s children are “light-years better.” Ruby and Kevin have six children-Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve-born between March 2003 and September 2013. According to People, four of the Franke children were placed into child protective services after Ruby’s arrest. Kevin later regained custody of the kids, who are still minors. “[Kevin] is making an effort to rebuild and bridge these relationships rather than sling mud and point fingers,” his attorney Randy Kester told Today in September 2023.
In March 2024, the case’s lead prosecutor Eric Clarke gave an update on the condition of the two youngest children subjected to the abuse at Hildebrandt’s home. “I think people should know that the kids have put on weight. They’re interacting, happy and healthy,” Clarke, the district attorney in Utah’s Washington County, told NewsNation. “It’s not like they’re great, but they’re light-years better. And thank heavens for that.”
Read also: "Married to Evil": Chad Graves
Per AP, 11-year-old Eve recently provided a statement to lawmakers asking them to protect other child creators from exploitation. “I’m not saying YouTube is a bad thing. Sometimes it brings us together,” she wrote. “But kids deserve to be loved, not used by the ones that are supposed to love them the most.”
Shari Franke: Speaking Out Against Family Vlogging
Shari Franke wrote about Ruby in her book The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom Now 22 and engaged, Shari released a best-selling memoir The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom in January 2025. She detailed some of her interactions with Ruby prior to her arrest in the book. One confrontation occurred after Shari, who was already estranged from her mother by that point, contacted child protective services to check on the welfare of her siblings.
Ruby allegedly told her: “You’ve always hated me. Ever since you were five years old, I could see it in your eyes. The way you looked at me, the way you judged me. You’ve never appreciated everything I’ve done for you, all the sacrifices I’ve made.” “That’s not true,” Shari responded. “I never hated you, Mom. I was just scared of you.”
In an interview promoting the book, Shari also said Ruby was “really physical” with her in childhood, sometimes slapping her on the lip and cheek. Shari has been outspoken about her family’s safety and privacy, most notably criticizing the made-for-TV movie Mormon Mom Gone Wrong that debuted in October 2024. She called the film, starring Emilie Ullerup as Ruby and Heather Locklear as Hildebrandt, “trash” in an Instagram post. “None of us were contacted about the movie. None of the proceeds are going to the kids. This movie is trash and only hurts my siblings more,” she wrote.
Both Shari and her brother Chad spoke publicly about their experiences for the Hulu documentary Devil in the Family.
Read also: Vallow-Daybell Trial: Key Evidence
Like Kevin, Shari has voiced her concerns about family vlogging and its effects on children. She spoke at a Utah Senate committee hearing in October 2024, detailing her experience as a child influencer on 8 Passengers. The 22-year-old told lawmakers she lost friends because of the “24/7” work required to create content for the channel and feels regretful that her best and worst moments in childhood were made public online. “I don’t want people to look at me and blame my unique circumstances, with a mother in prison, to the Franke criminal case,” she said. “Family vlogging ruined my innocence long before Ruby committed a crime. I promise you that my experiences are not unique and are happening to child influencers all over Utah and the country.”
Utah now joins Illinois, California and Minnesota among states that have passed legislation regarding financial protection for children and teenagers featured on social media.
Shari, who once had a YouTube channel of her own before shuttering it, has recently decided to put up more boundaries on sharing her personal life online. In a December 2024 Instagram post sharing the news of her engagement, she wrote: “For me, this is the end of me sharing my private life... I’m not going to talk about my wedding, future husband, or future kids. I’ll continue to advocate for kids who didn’t have a voice (so you’ll still be seeing me, don’t worry) but this is closure for me. I’m moving on with my life, and that’s true freedom and joy ❤️.”
Chad Franke's Marriage
The 20-year-old son of Ruby Franke and her ex-husband Kevin Franke married his fiancée Kam Anderson Oct. And while the matriarch-who in addition to Chad and Shari, shares four other kids with Kevin-may have missed her son tying the knot, she previously expressed wanting nothing but the best for him during a court hearing to receive her sentence in 2024."To my babies, you are a part of me. I believed dark was light and right was wrong," she said at the time.
Chad first announced his engagement to Kam, 21, back in June, when he shared the video of him getting down on one knee with a gorgeous mountain vista in the background. After turning around to see the ring designed by Michael Arthur Diamonds, the esthetician put her hands over her mouth in shock and wrapped him in a warm hug. Alongside the adorable moment, Chad wrote in the caption of his June 15 Instagram, "Best day I've ever had.
Following the sweet announcement, the Frankes' eldest son received an outpouring of support from his inner circle.
Other Notable Marriages
For more star couples who have tied the knot over the past year, here are a few examples:
- Tom Green & Amanda Nelson
- Markiplier & Amy Nelson
- Danielle Campbell & Colin Woodell
- Cierra Ramirez & OTHRSYDE
- Aaron Tveit & Ericka Hunter Yang
- Eric Stonestreet & Lindsay Schweitzer
- Shannon Nelson & Brendan Hunt
- Natasha Bure & Bradley Steven Perry
- Saoirse-Monica Jackson & Denis Sulta
- Logan Paul & Nina Agdal
These couples, like Chad and Kam Franke, have celebrated their love and commitment with joyous ceremonies.
This series marks the first time Shari and Chad, the Frankes’ two eldest children, and Kevin, Ruby’s husband, will share their story in depth on camera. With exclusive access to the Frankes, their friends and neighbors, and over a thousand hours of their YouTube channel’s unseen rushes, Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke cuts through the social media reaction to explore the untold story behind the Ruby Franke case: part family tragedy, part coming-of-age narrative, part tale of our times about the perils of life lived online.
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
