Ruby Franke Sentencing | Did Franke Help Herself with 'Prison Preference' Apology?

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[00:00:29] ["In Jesus' song is done."

[00:00:35] This is True Crime Psychology and Personality,

[00:00:39] where we discuss the pathology

[00:00:41] behind some of the most horrific crimes

[00:00:43] and those who committed them

[00:00:44] from a scientifically informed perspective.

[00:00:47] I'm Dr. Todd Grande.

[00:00:50] I have a PhD in counselor education and supervision and a licensed professional counselor of mental

[00:00:56] health.

[00:00:57] Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel.

[00:00:59] Today's question is, can I analyze the sentencing of the disgraced social media influencer Ruby

[00:01:06] Frank? First, I'll look at the background of this case, including the timeline of the crime,

[00:01:11] moved to a summary of Ruby's statement at sentencing and offer my analysis. Ruby Frank was born in

[00:01:18] 1982 and lived in Springville, Utah. She married a man named Kevin and they had six children. In 2015,

[00:01:26] Ruby started a family vlogging channel on YouTube titled Eight Passengers, which became

[00:01:31] extremely successful, accumulating over one billion views. Despite the success, Ruby gave up on the

[00:01:38] channel. She would later explain this odd behavior by implying that she needed to abandon the channel

[00:01:45] explain this odd behavior by implying that she needed to abandon the channel to save her children.

[00:01:51] Ruby became business partners with a licensed mental health counselor named Jody Hildebrandt, who ran a mental health advice company called Connections. On August 30, 2023, Ruby and Jody

[00:01:58] were arrested after Ruby's malnourished 12-year-old son climbed out of a window in Jodi's residence in Ivan's

[00:02:05] Utah and ran to a neighbor's house.

[00:02:08] He was looking for food and water.

[00:02:10] The police were notified and found Ruby's 10-year-old daughter in Jodi's residence,

[00:02:15] also suffering from malnutrition.

[00:02:17] The victims were taken to the hospital and treated.

[00:02:20] Ruby and Jodi were charged with six counts of second-degree felony aggravated child abuse.

[00:02:26] Each count carries a sentence from one to fifteen years in prison.

[00:02:30] The state agreed to dismiss two of the six counts against Ruby if she pleaded guilty

[00:02:34] to four of the counts.

[00:02:37] Ruby admitted that she intentionally and knowingly inflicted and allowed another adult to inflict

[00:02:43] serious injuries on her son and daughter.

[00:02:46] As a form of punishment, Ruby denied her son food, water, and any type of entertainment.

[00:02:51] In addition, he was forced to engage in physically difficult tasks. Ruby's daughter received similar

[00:02:57] punishments. After her son tried to escape, he was restrained with handcuffs and sustained injuries.

[00:03:04] At times, Ruby kicked

[00:03:05] him while wearing boots, held his head underwater, and cut off his oxygen by placing her hands

[00:03:11] over his mouth and nose. Ruby pleaded guilty to four counts on December 18, 2023. On February

[00:03:18] 20, 2024, she was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for each of the four counts to be served consecutively.

[00:03:27] Jody Hildebrandt received the exact same sentence after pleading guilty.

[00:03:32] The math works out to a sentence of between four and sixty years, but that's not actually the range of prison time.

[00:03:40] Ruby and Jody will be eligible for parole in about three years and four months, and the

[00:03:45] maximum they can serve is 30 years.

[00:03:48] Some people wonder why the maximum is 30 when four times 15 is 60.

[00:03:55] That's because in the state of Utah, the maximum that a prisoner can serve when receiving consecutive

[00:03:59] sentences is 30 years, unless they were convicted of an offense that authorizes the death penalty

[00:04:05] or life in prison, or they commit additional offenses after sentencing.

[00:04:09] I would be surprised if Ruby and Jody served much more than the minimum.

[00:04:14] The Utah Board of Pardins and Perot will ultimately decide their length of stay.

[00:04:19] It will largely depend on how well women behave, and so far, they don't appear to be causing

[00:04:24] too much trouble.

[00:04:25] Ruby made a statement at sentencing. Here is a summary of that statement. Much of this is

[00:04:30] paraphrased. Ruby started off by saying that she was not making the statement in order to change

[00:04:35] the sentence that was stipulated by the plea agreement. She wasn't looking for the judge to

[00:04:40] cut her a break, which is a good thing because that wasn't likely. Ruby said, quote,

[00:04:46] I take full accountability for my choices, and it is my preference that I will serve a prison

[00:04:52] sentence, unquote. Ruby talked about how she accepted counseling advice for the past four years

[00:04:58] that led her into a dark delusion. She isolated from people and had a distorted version of reality.

[00:05:06] Ruby was led to believe the world was evil and filled with people who were deceptive, manipulative, and refused to

[00:05:11] protect children. She made a decision to become paranoid and that resulted in her criminal behavior.

[00:05:18] Ruby then thanked several different people involved in her case. She thanked the police officers

[00:05:23] for saving her children.

[00:05:25] She specifically thanked one detective for handcuffing her because that's the moment Ruby

[00:05:29] gained her freedom.

[00:05:31] Ruby thanked the hospital staff, religious figures, the prosecutor's office, her attorney,

[00:05:35] the judge, and her family.

[00:05:37] When talking about her husband, Kevin, Ruby proclaimed that he was the love of her life

[00:05:42] and she was sorry to leave him before they finished what they both started together.

[00:05:47] Referencing her children, Ruby went into an analogy where she was a mama duck who waddled

[00:05:52] her little chicks to safety.

[00:05:55] She was trapped in a deep undercurrent that pulled them into danger.

[00:05:59] At the end of expressing her gratitude for some of the people, Ruby made dramatic statements

[00:06:04] with a reversal.

[00:06:05] For example, she said things like, you are not the controlling ones I was, or you wanted to help,

[00:06:11] but I pushed you away. Ruby said that she wanted to stand in God's court someday,

[00:06:16] spotless and confident, and that standing before the judge was necessary to accomplish that goal.

[00:06:22] She was willing to serve as long as she needed to, in prison, to unravel all her false beliefs, and understood this would take time. Ruby

[00:06:30] concluded by saying, quote, I'm committed to continuing my learning until all of my

[00:06:35] toxic layers are shed, and I am ready to re-enter as a contributing member of our beautiful society.

[00:06:42] Unquote. Now moving to my analysis.

[00:06:45] Here are my thoughts on a few areas that stood out to me in this case, item number one.

[00:06:50] What did Ruby do well in her statement?

[00:06:53] I questioned the sincerity of her apology, but were there areas of her statement that

[00:06:58] helped her?

[00:06:59] It seems clear that Ruby carefully wrote her apology.

[00:07:02] Technically speaking, I think Ruby probably helped herself

[00:07:05] with the apology in a few different ways.

[00:07:07] For example, she accepted responsibility,

[00:07:10] thanked people who stopped her criminal behavior,

[00:07:13] didn't spend a lot of time blaming anyone but herself,

[00:07:17] and was happy to go to prison.

[00:07:20] Ruby's message ended with her acknowledging

[00:07:22] that she had a lot of work to do

[00:07:24] in order not to be dangerous.

[00:07:26] People convicted of crimes often go astray while giving statements at sentencing, but

[00:07:31] Ruby avoided many of the classic pitfalls, at least on the surface.

[00:07:35] Item number two, Ruby's discussion about mental health during her statement was curious.

[00:07:41] She was trying to balance two concepts, ownership and mental health symptoms.

[00:07:46] She made references to delusions, paranoia, isolation, and bad counseling advice, but never

[00:07:52] explicitly stated that she committed her crimes due to some type of mental illness. I think it is

[00:07:58] reasonable to believe that Ruby was never delusional. It's more likely that her crimes were caused by narcissistic traits.

[00:08:05] The state argued that Ruby believed Jodi was talking to God, therefore she believed what Jodi

[00:08:10] told her was coming from God. It's almost like Ruby was in kind of a cult with Jodi as the leader.

[00:08:18] It was Ruby's own sense of entitlement, grandiosity, arrogance, and belief that she was special,

[00:08:24] which led her down this path. Ruby was so incredible and belief that she was special, which led her

[00:08:25] down this path. Ruby was so incredible and amazing that a messenger of God was talking

[00:08:30] directly to her and giving her commands. Many people fall for cults and dynamics associated

[00:08:36] with them. What's troubling with Ruby is that she involved her children. Usually, when

[00:08:42] people are vulnerable to cult leaders, they still have safeties built in.

[00:08:46] There are behaviors they simply will not engage in,

[00:08:49] no matter what they are told.

[00:08:51] Ruby, on the other hand,

[00:08:52] was willing to commit serious crimes

[00:08:54] against those she was supposed to be protecting.

[00:08:56] She tried to turn this into a positive

[00:08:58] by suggesting that her willingness to sacrifice

[00:09:00] everything for her children was manipulated

[00:09:03] into something ugly,

[00:09:04] but that is an overly generous self-assessment.

[00:09:08] Item number three, in her apology, Ruby avoided language that directly described her crimes.

[00:09:14] It's like she tried to soften the bad behavior by using a creative and cartoonish portrayal.

[00:09:19] For example, she imagined herself as a mama duck trying to protect little chicks.

[00:09:25] Ruby is trying to get people to forget the true horror of her crimes.

[00:09:29] She wants people to think about what she did in general terms and not ponder on the details.

[00:09:36] Item number four, Ruby could not resist trying to take control of the criminal proceedings

[00:09:41] against her.

[00:09:42] She explained how it was her preference to go to prison,

[00:09:46] even though a choice was never presented to her.

[00:09:48] She would have been convicted a trial

[00:09:50] and ended up in the same place.

[00:09:53] It's almost like Ruby was saying,

[00:09:54] you're not putting me in prison.

[00:09:56] I'm putting myself in prison.

[00:09:58] This reminds me of when an employee gets fired

[00:10:01] and they say, you can't fire me because I quit.

[00:10:05] Item number five, Ruby was a veritable fountain of gratitude.

[00:10:09] She thanked everybody.

[00:10:11] Thank you for handcuffing me.

[00:10:12] Thank you for prosecuting me.

[00:10:14] Thank you for sending me to prison for years.

[00:10:17] She wanted everyone to know how great they were for recognizing how she was a plague to

[00:10:21] society.

[00:10:23] Even someone with true remorse would probably not be so grateful

[00:10:26] to experience a magical prison journey. Ruby was doing such a good job of acting with her endless

[00:10:32] thank-us. It reminded me of best actor speeches at the Academy Awards.

[00:10:38] Item number six. Ruby wants people to believe that she is thrilled to go to prison,

[00:10:43] like it is necessary to cause

[00:10:45] change in her. I would be very surprised if Ruby had a level of insight to believe that statement.

[00:10:51] Furthermore, she will probably not feel that way after suffering in prison for years.

[00:10:56] It's a horrible place, which will only become a little bit more frightening through Ruby's

[00:11:01] introduction. A whole idea of prison from Ruby's perspective

[00:11:05] is to discover what made her adopt false beliefs.

[00:11:08] If the cause was really encountering a woman

[00:11:11] with dominant characteristics, namely Jodi,

[00:11:14] then prison is probably not going to be the ideal

[00:11:17] for avoiding that problem.

[00:11:19] I think the main role that prison serves in this case

[00:11:21] is to keep Ruby away from society,

[00:11:24] not to transform her personality and beliefs.

[00:11:27] Realistically, these may never change, but if they did, it would take years.

[00:11:32] Unfortunately, prisons do not usually have the staff available to appropriately address

[00:11:37] mental health or personality issues.

[00:11:41] Item number seven, what does justice look like in this case?

[00:11:45] Just because Ruby was articulate and delivered a reasonably effective apology at the surface

[00:11:50] level does not take away from the severity of her offenses.

[00:11:54] Ruby demonstrated that she could journey to a dark place quickly and that she is dangerously

[00:11:59] gullible.

[00:12:01] She literally believed that Jodi was communicating messages from God to her,

[00:12:05] but did not understand how it was important to protect her children. I think she should

[00:12:09] serve a minimum of 15 years, assuming that she can demonstrate significant insight into

[00:12:15] her own behavior. If she cannot, then 25 years would be more appropriate.

[00:12:20] I'm moving to my final thoughts. Some people have noted that Ruby seemed genuinely remorseful in her statement. This is certainly possible, but even if she

[00:12:30] was, here's the problem. The kind of transformation that Ruby would need to reduce self-centeredness,

[00:12:36] grandiosity, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement is not something that can happen overnight.

[00:12:43] Ruby probably appears remorseful because she knows

[00:12:45] that makes sense based on her situation. It's a good tactical move, but that does not automatically

[00:12:52] mean she possesses insight into her own behavior. If Ruby truly understood her own nature and

[00:12:58] the destructiveness of her actions, she would be devastated inside. Her narcissistic traits probably protect her from

[00:13:06] feeling this pain, but the pain will be necessary to recover. Without it, Ruby will simply go

[00:13:12] around in circles, behaving as if she has changed without experiencing meaningful and lasting

[00:13:18] improvements. Ruby was upset for being deceived into believing the world was evil, but will now spend years in prison trying to deceive herself into believing that she was good.

[00:13:37] This has been true crime psychology and personality from Ars Longa Media.

[00:13:43] This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only.

[00:13:48] Ars Longa, Vida Brebus.

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