The cruel journal entries of incarcerated ‘mommy blogger’ Ruby Franke have been uncovered, in which she outlines the ritual abuse and humiliation she inflicted on her children.
Franke, a former ‘momfluencer’ from Utah who operated a YouTube channel about her family life, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in December after admitting to multiple counts of child assault.
Now a series of diary entries released by prosecutors outline the scale of the abuse Franke inflicted on her six children, along with images of the severe injuries they were subjected to.
Throughout the diary, Franke displayed religious extremism and frequently wrote about punishing her kids because she believed they were ‘possessed’ by the devil.
In one instance, she said her young son was overwhelmed by ‘Satanic chaos’, and said her children were suffering from ‘deviant behavior’.
The redacted entries mainly focused on the abuse she inflicted on two of her children, whose names were abbreviated as ‘E’ and ‘R’.
On 10 July 2023, Franke wrote about her son’s birthday, and compared her son to a ‘snake’.
'It’s [R's] birthday,' she wrote. 'He doesn’t even know what month it is…I told [R] he imitates a snake. He slithers and sneaks around when no one is watching then he scurries.'
'I told [R] that he needs to find God,' she wrote in another entry. 'I invited him to fast and pray. [R] is in and out of possession.'
Elsewhere in the diary, she writes about depriving her children of food and water, shaving their heads as ‘punishment’ and making them sleep outside.
She also says her daughter has started to create rhymes about the abuse she puts her through.
'All day, [E] makes rhymes about: “My mom starves me and calls it fasting.'
'My mom won’t lift a finger and bring me food because all she does is lie on the bed and eat brownies,” Franke wrote.
She added: '[E] is better behaved with Jodi. She likes to think she can manipulate me. I gave her a pixie hair cut. All her long hair is gone. No more distracting [with] hair.'
She also wrote that her children ‘have been spawns of Satan’, and said when one of her kids tried to run away, she ‘screamed for another family, water, food, care, love.'
On July 10, 2023, she wrote: ‘It’s (R’s) birthday. He doesn’t even know what month it is.’
Photos shown to the court depicted the fragile bodies of the emaciated children who were covered with cuts, bruises and scars.
Pictures display the hands and feet of a young boy wrapped in duct tape, along with infected sores on his feet filled with blood and pus due to the restraints.
The nine-year-old girl was observed with scratches all over her arms and bruise marks on her ankle.
The children endured torture such as being tied up with rope, made to wear adult diapers, and confined in a small safe room.
They were consistently deprived of food, water, proper sleeping arrangements, and nearly all forms of entertainment.
Meanwhile, photographs reveal the kitchen and pantry were stocked with food, and Franke's spacious office was dedicated to producing YouTube videos.
Police also found a crowded safe room in the basement that was locked from the outside, as well as rope for binding the children and adult diapers.
Franke was ultimately arrested with her business partner Jodi Hildebrant after one of her children escaped last August and sought help from a neighbor to call the police.
The boy, who was thin and covered in wounds, informed investigators that Hildebrandt used ropes on his limbs and applied cayenne pepper and honey to treat his cuts.
During her trial, Franke was told her abuse was based on religious extremism, with her family stating that she was 'delusional' in a statement to the court before her sentencing.
'She was so deeply brainwashed we could not recognize her,' the statement read.
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