THE eldest daughter of disgraced mommy vlogger Ruby Franke has taken a swipe at her mom, who sits behind bars after being exposed for her horrific child abuse.
Ruby, a Mormon mom of six from Utah, was arrested in August 2023 after her emaciated preteen son escaped the family’s house of horrors and ran to a neighbor’s house to beg for help.
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The 42-year-old mom was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for child abuse including starving, beating, and chaining up her two youngest kids.
Shari Franke, 21, is often outspoken about the heartbreaking effects of her mom’s abuse on her social media platforms and even plans to release a tell-all memoir called The House of My Mother in January.
On Thanksgiving Day, Shari slammed Ruby with a picture of her baking dinner rolls posted to Instagram.
“This Thanksgiving, I’m especially not thankful for Ruby,” Shari wrote about her disgraced mom.
“But damn did she teach me how to make good rolls,” she added.
DAUGHTER CALLS FOR CHANGE
The double-edged dig comes weeks after Shari took a stand against child exploitation in a speech to the Utah House of Representatives on October 16 where she called herself a “victim of family vlogging.”
“I want to be clear that there is never, never a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame,” she said to lawmakers.
She argued that legislation should be passed so children recorded for family vlogs are treated like business employees to prevent exploitation.
Ruby constantly filmed Shari and her siblings for her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, which amassed over 2.5 million subscribers since its start in 2015.
By 2020, the channel posted videos five times a week – which Shari told lawmakers was unethical as the children were forced to participate in a job-like setting where they weren’t paid.
“There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger,” the college student said.
“The camera never stops, and there is no such thing as a vacation from filming.”
CHILLING HISTORY
Subscribers to Ruby’s channel became worried about her kids when the devout Mormon’s parenting style took a sharp turn around 2022 when Ruby started collaborating with family therapist Jodi Hildebrant.
The two religious moms started a podcast where they shared their extreme views on parenting.
Franke’s horrific punishments for children
Starting in May 2023, disgraced YouTuber Ruby Franke journaled about the punishments she imposed on her children.
She appeared to justify the abuse by referring to “Satanic choices” and “the devil’s” influences on her kids’ actions.
Some of the horrific punishments detailed in the journal include:
- Poking her children with cactus needles
- Pouring cold water on the kids
- Whipping with a towel or belt
- Forcing them to stand in the hot sun
- Forcibly dunking her son in the pool
- Forcing them to sleep on the ground
- Restricting food
In sick diary entries from around that time, Ruby admitted to holding her son’s head underwater, shoving him into a cactus, and chaining him up with duct tape.
She denied her daughter meals and forced her to work outside barefoot with no protection from the sun.
‘UPSIDE DOWN’
In August 2023, Shari posted on Instagram that her life was “upside down” since her mom’s arrest.
“I’ve cried, had an infinite number of panic attacks, had way too much ice-cream, and yet life goes on,” Shari wrote.
“My life is somehow becoming more beautiful and fulfilling, despite all the terrible things going on.”
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Police records revealed that Shari had called the cops on her mom in September 2022 to perform a welfare check on her siblings when they were home alone after Ruby left town.
Last December, Ruby and Hildebrant both pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse.
EMOTIONAL SENTENCING
Ruby apologized to her family in an emotional moment at her sentencing.
“I will never stop crying for hurting your tender souls,” she told her children in court.
“I’m sorry for twisting God’s words and distorting his doctrine.
“My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly. I took from you all that was soft and safe and good.
“I am willing to serve a prison sentence as long as it takes to unravel what I believed.”
She was sentenced to four terms of one to 15 years in prison.
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LIFETIME MOVIE SLAMMED
On October 26, Lifetime premiered a fictionalized drama based on Franke’s crimes called Mormon Mom Gone Wrong.
Shari slammed the movie on her Instagram and begged her followers not to watch it.
“None of us were contacted about the movie. None of the proceeds are going to the kids,” she said.
“This movie is trash and only hurts my siblings more.
“Please do not support this movie.”
Lifetime didn’t immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 800 422 4453 or live chat at https://www.childhelphotline.org/.
If a child or other person is in immediate danger, contact 911 immediately.
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