A high profile YouTuber was recently arrested for six counts of child abuse and endangerment.

On the early morning of Aug. 30, 12-year-old Russell Franke climbed out of a first story window of their suburban house in Utah and ran to a neighbor to ask for help and food and water. Russell was severely malnourished and had duct-tape on his hands and ankles.

The neighbor who called the police about Russel was very emotional when talking over the phone, and said that the child looked emaciated.

“He’s very afraid,” said the caller, choking up with emotion. He added, “I think he’s been detained. He’s obviously covered in wounds.”

Mother Ruby Franke and father Kevin Franke are parents to six children: Shari (20), Chad (18), Abby (16), Julie (14) , Russell (12), Eve (9). They have been posting to a YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” since 2015. On Aug. 30, she and her husband were arrested on two counts of child abuse. She could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Most of the YouTube videos put out by the 8 Passengers were “Days in the Lives,” where they would show their daily routines with six children. The account has now been banned and deleted; the videos will possibly appear in the court cases again Ruby Franke.

The YouTube channel was not without controversy. One video showed Ruby Franke refusing to bring her six-year old child a lunch after she forgot to pack her own. Franke hoped that it would “teach her child a lesson” about being independent. When the teacher on the phone suggested that she might get food from another student, Ruby quickly turned down the idea and said that she would not get any food.

Viktoría Valdimarsdóttir, a Williston junior, had heard of the controversial family, and watched a couple of videos.

“I think the mother is kind of toxic, but I didn’t know the extent of what she did to her children,” Viktoría said.

As of Sep. 9, Franke was charged with six counts of child abuse. Twenty-year old daughter Shari Franke had been begging for child protective services and the police to get involved for more than a year before her mother was finally arrested.

Shari posted on her Instagram story a picture of the police cards with the words, “finally” written on the picture.

Monique Lyons ’24 has been watching “8 Passengers” for a couple of years, but only recently noticed a shift in behavior from Ruby.

“She has been like this for the last two years after her and Jodi started Connexions,” Monique said. Connexions is a life-coaching brand run by Franke’s business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt. Franke often shows up in Connexions online content. “After that she became part of a cult, and after she started following and being brain washed by then. I think it started after she separated with Kevin and started getting more serious about.”

Ruby Franke partnered up with Hildebrant, who is known for Mormon family counselling, to help out with her family. In 2012 Hildebrant’s counselling license was put on probation for 18 months because she discussed a patient’s history with his leaders at The Church of Jesus Christ without permission. She accused him of having serious problems, but never actually diagnosed him or spent enough time with him to do so.

One of Hildebrandt’s former patients, Adam Steed, told a reporter from PEOPLE that the Mormon therapist had “destroyed” his life through her counseling.

“Her doctrine is that she believes that relationships need to die before they can be reborn,” Hildebrandt’s former patient said.

Both Hildebrant and Franke remain in the custody of Washington County, where they are both being held without bail.