Niece of Jodi Hildebrandt, Ruby Franke's business partner, speaks out about alleged abuse
As YouTuber Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt remain in jail on charges of felony child abuse, one of Hildebrandt's relatives is coming forward with their own allegations of abuse.
Hildebrandt's niece, Jessi Hildebrandt, who uses they/them pronouns, told ABC News' Juju Chang that they were sent to live with their aunt as a teenager and were subjected to what they described as "brutal abuse."
"She would lock me in this room and write out my sins on paper," Jessi Hildebrandt told Chang in a new episode of "Impact x Nightline" streaming on Hulu. "She made me sleep outside in the snow. She duct-taped me. I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone."
Jodi Hildebrandt, a licensed therapist who voluntarily agreed to a surrender and limitation of her therapy license last month, barring her from practicing in the state until the case is resolved, was arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse in late August after Franke's 12-year-old son escaped through a window in her house, where he was allegedly being held, and ran to a neighbor's home pleading for food and water, according to authorities.
According to police, the neighbor described the 12-year-old in a phone call to police as emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds. Court documents also described the boy as having "deep lacerations from being tied up with rope."
Police also said they later found Franke's 10-year-old daughter at Jodi Hildebrandt's home, also malnourished.
Authorities allege the 12-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl were under Jodi Hildebrandt's "direct care" at her home in Utah at the time.
Franke, who gained online notoriety with her tough and often controversial parenting advice, was also formally charged with six counts of felony child abuse in Washington County, Utah.
Both Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were denied bail following their arrests. If convicted, they could face decades in prison for the charges.
Jessi Hildebrandt said that while the arrests of their aunt and Franke have made headlines, they were not surprised.
"We knew that Jodi does this. We knew 14, almost 15 years ago, that she's already done this to me, and people saw and people witnessed and did nothing," they claimed. "Just because you reframe it as 'tough love,' or 'tough parenting,' that's not love. That is abuse."
Jessi Hildebrandt also alleged the "parenting ideas" shared online by Franke on her various social media pages were the brainchild of Jodi Hildebrandt.
"I understand why the public is focusing on Ruby. It's Ruby's children," they said. "But all of these theories and these modalities and these parenting ideas, that all comes from Jodi."
Franke, a mom of six children with her estranged husband Kevin, rose to fame by offering parenting advice on YouTube, some of it controversial. For example, in one instance, Franke received criticism online for saying she had kept food from her kids as punishment.
"I'm not even gonna let you have breakfast until you get your chores done," she was seen saying in a since-deleted YouTube video.
In another YouTube video, Franke was heard saying of her kids, "Up until now, I was really hoping that keeping them home from school and wiping the floorboards would, like, really bring pain."
Ruby and Kevin Franke have been separated and living in separate homes for over a year, according to Randy Kester, Kevin Franke's attorney.
Kester told Chang that Kevin Franke, who has not been charged, shares Jessi Hildebrandt's view that Jodi Hildebrandt was behind the actions of his estranged wife.
"Kevin feels like Jodi manipulated the entire family, children included," Kester said.
Following Ruby Franke's arrest, police said her other four children were taken into the care of Utah's Division of Child and Family Services. An official with that agency told ABC News in September it cannot comment on any case specifically.
Attorneys for both Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.
Watch Impact x Nightline streaming now on Hulu.
