When popular vlogger Ruby Franke was arrested for child abuse in August 2023, it quickly became one of the biggest trending stories in America and around the world. The media went wild, questioning how a seemingly ordinary mum of six, particularly one with 2.5 million subscribers on the now-removed YouTube channel 8 Passengers, could unleash such evil.
But, until now, not much has been known or written about her partner in crime, Jodi Hildebrandt, the less glamorous half of the duo. It was what led director Skye Borgman to focus on this woman, a former life coach, in her new Netflix documentary Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story, which is airing now.
What is Evil Influencer about?
The documentary begins with security camera footage showing a young boy, revealed to be Ruby Franke’s son, asking a neighbour for food and water, and to take him to the police. The man realises the severity of the situation when he sees the boy is covered in injuries indicative of severe abuse and torture. His voice breaks as he calls the police to raise the alarm.
When the police search Hildebrandt’s home, where the 12-year old boy has escaped from, they find his similarly starved and terrified sister sitting shaven-headed in a cupboard.
The backstory is then filled in and it is not simply the case of Franke being an abusive mother. The abuse was happening at Hildebrandt’s home with the woman having infiltrated the Franke’s lives over years.
The pair shared a deeply religious view point – Franke was a strict Mormon and Hildebrandt, founder of the life-coaching company ConneXions, was also powerful voice within the Mormon church. Hildebrandt specialised in helping people who were going through marital difficulties and, when the Franke’s turned to her for family counselling, Ruby fell under her sway.
The couple eventually separated and as Ruby and Hildebrandt tried to “fix” her family, it gave rise to the horrific abuse suffered by her two children.
Male and female former clients talk about the power Hildebrandt also came to wield over them, using cult-like techniques to separate couples so she could control the individuals.
Franke and her husband Kevin separated a year before her arrest and he told police in August 2023 he hadn’t seen any of his children for over a year.
Where is Jodi Hildebrandt now?
Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, four counts of aggravated child abuse. She was sentenced to four consecutive terms of one to 15 years in February 2024 and is now held at Utah State Correctional Facility.
Her life coaching company ConneXions is no longer in operation but the fallout from it is still being felt by many former clients, interviewed in the documentary. Franke was by no means the only one to fall under Hildebrandt’s spell and her former clients talk about the manipulation by her that led to severe harm in their relationships and families.
Borgman says that not much has changed in prison and Hildebrandt is still seeking out vulnerable women to coach or counsel.
Where is Ruby Franke now?
Franke is being held in the same prison as Hildebrandt having also pleaded guilty and received the same sentence as she did. The pair live in separate areas of the prison and are not thought to be in touch.
What about Kevin Franke?
The news of his children’s abuse was a devastating blow to Kevin, who was allegedly isolated from his then-wife and children at Hildebrandt’s command. He has since gained custody of his four youngest children as part of his divorce which was finalised in March 2025.
“I’m not ashamed to say that after being married over 20 years to that woman, I truly did and still do love her,” he told PEOPLE. “But that doesn’t excuse what she did, and it doesn’t excuse how she hurt our children and how she hurt me … I’m going to do what’s best for my children, for my family, and for myself, and that’s not going to include her.”
In late 2025, he remarried a woman named Becca Bevan.
Where are the Franke children now?
The identities of the two children who were abused, age 12 and nine, have never been revealed and neither have their two siblings who are also minors.
The eldest two, Shari and Chad, were adults at the time of Hildebrandt’s and their mother’s arrests in 2023. Shari has since released a memoir called “The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom,” while Chad is married and reportedly works in real estate.
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