- Ruby Franke, the creator of the now-defunct YouTube family channel 8 Passengers, has been arrested on suspicion of child abuse.
- Franke’s three sisters have released a joint statement expressing their belief that the arrest was necessary.
- Franke’s eldest child, Shari, has also taken to Instagram to express her belief that justice is being served.
After the mother behind the once popular and now defunct YouTube family channel, 8 Passengers, was arrested on suspicion of child abuse, her sisters say the arrest was necessary.
Ruby Franke was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse on Wednesday and is currently marked as “in custody” on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office website. She was arrested with Jodi Hildebrandt, a therapist and business partner who helped her form their self-described parent “support group,” ConneXions.
The 8 Passengers channel, which began in 2015 and reached around 2.5 million subscribers before it was taken down, followed the life of Franke, her husband Kevin, and their six children, Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell, and Eve. Prior to her arrest, Franke faced a storm of allegations from viewers who have long been concerned about child abuse and neglect that they say they witnessed from her own vlogs.
Franke’s three sisters, who are each mom influencers themselves, have now spoken out about the arrest and years of allegations that have followed Franke and her family. On Thursday, Ellie Mecham, Bonnie Hoellein, and Julie Deru released a statement to their respective Instagram accounts saying they had kept quiet on the subject for three years “for the sake of her children.”
“Behind the public scene we have done everything we could to try and make sure the kids were safe,” their statements read. “We wouldn’t feel right about moving forward with regular content without addressing the most recent events.”
The sisters conceded that the recent charges against Franke and Hildebrandt were necessary.
“Ruby was arrested, which needed to happen. Jodi was arrested, which needed to happen,” their statement continued. “The kids are now safe, which is the number one priority.”
The post has received over 40,000 likes within a few hours.
Franke and her sisters have collaborated on content in their early YouTube careers, like Follow Google News
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