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What happened to Ruby Franke's children and her estranged husband?

The eldest daughter of imprisoned “momfluencer” Ruby Franke calls the new Lifetime movie about her family “garbage” that will only harm her siblings.

A Mormon Mother Was Wrong: The Ruby Franke Storyairing Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, offers a dramatized account of the shocking criminal case involving Franke, mother of six and former family vlogger, and her life coach Jodi Hildebrandt. Both were arrested in August 2023 and later convicted of child abuse.

Authorities determined that the women subjected two of Franke's children to mental and physical abuse, including starvation and incarceration, at Hildebrandt's Utah home. Franke and Hildebrandt are each serving consecutive prison sentences of between 4 and 30 years.

With the tragic story now coming to the screen, Ruby's estranged daughter Shari Franke, 21, recently criticized the project in a recent Instagram story. “None of us have been contacted about the film. None of the proceeds go to the children,” Shari wrote. “This film is trash and will only hurt my siblings even more. Please do not support this film.”

With Emilie Ullerup as Ruby and Heather Locklear as Hildebrandt, Mormon mother made a mistake is expected to explore Ruby's relationship with her children and estranged husband Kevin Franke, all of whom were featured on the family's former YouTube channel, 8 Passengers. Here's what we know about the lives of Kevin and his and Ruby's children since their arrest.

Kevin Franke has called for child welfare reform

Kevin filed for divorce from Ruby on November 30, 2023, approximately three months after her and Hildebrant's arrest. Kevin, now 45, has not been charged in connection with the criminal case. His legal team has claimed he broke up with Ruby more than a year before her arrest and had no knowledge of the abuse.

Before their split, the Frankes began seeing Hildebrandt for marriage counseling in 2021. Kevin claimed that the following year, Hildebrandt ordered the couple to separate to help their marriage and also ordered him to cut off communication with almost everyone in his life.

Kevin first spoke publicly about the abuse case in July 2024. During a meeting of Utah's Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel, he called on lawmakers to pass legislation that would close loopholes in the state's child welfare laws that were preventing authorities from following up Neighbors and elders intervened Daughter Shari expressed concerns about the Franke children. He also called for regulation of life coaches like Hildebrandt, who he said “takes advantage of the vulnerable who seek help.”

When asked by reporters how much blame he placed on Ruby, Hildebrandt or the authorities for the abuse, Franke declined to elaborate, comparing the saga to “a gigantic train wreck.”

“When you approach a train wreck, you can't split up and say, 'Well, this part of the mess was due to the wheel coming off the tracks, and this part of the mess was due to this or that,'” he said. “From my point of view, from my point of view, this is all just a huge mess. I’ll leave it to you, the reporters and the investigators, to investigate and find out.”

Ruby's children are “light years better”

Ruby and Kevin have six children – Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve – who were born between March 2003 and September 2013 PeopleFour of the Franke children were placed in child protective services after Ruby's arrest.

In March 2024, the case's lead prosecutor, Eric Clarke, provided an update on the condition of the two youngest children who were abused in Hildebrandt's home. “I think people should know that the kids have gained weight. They are interacting, happy and healthy,” said Clarke, the district attorney in Washington County, Utah NewsNation. “It's not that they're great, but they're light years better. And thank heaven for that.”

As of September 2024, the status of the Frankes' four minor children has been the subject of an ongoing juvenile court case in Provo, Utah. Although the proceedings are not public, it has been reported that Kevin is seeking custody. In February 2024, Page Six reported that the father had applied for guardianship of his then 16-year-old daughter Abby.

“[Kevin] “is seeking to rebuild and bridge those relationships rather than spreading dirt and pointing fingers,” said his attorney, Randy Kester Today in September 2023.

Shari Franke is writing a memoir

In addition to her public comments about the new Lifetime movie, Shari expresses her concerns about family vlogging and its impact on children. She spoke at a Utah Senate committee hearing on October 16 and detailed her experiences as a child influencer on 8 Passengers. The 21-year-old told lawmakers she lost friends because she had to work around the clock to create content for the channel and regretted having her best and worst childhood moments published online.

“I don’t want people to look at me and attribute my unique circumstances, having a mother in prison, to the Franke criminal case,” she said. “Family vlogging destroyed my innocence long before Ruby committed a crime. I promise you that my experiences are not unique and are happening to child influencers all over Utah and across the country.”

Accordingly ABC NewsIllinois and California are the only two states to have passed financial protection laws for young children and teens featured on social media. Shari called on Utah lawmakers to take similar action.

“If I could go back and do it all over again, I would rather have an empty bank account right now and not spread my childhood on the internet,” she said. “No amount I received made what I experienced worthwhile.”

Shari is expected to share more details about her influencer experience in her upcoming memoir. My Mother's House: A Daughter's Quest for Freedomwhich will be published in early January.

Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com Associate News Editor and is now News and Culture Editor. Previously, he worked as a reporter and editor for an Associated Press Sports Editors-approved daily newspaper. In his current role, he tells the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles up-and-coming musicians, actors and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater cheering on his favorite teams.

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