WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — Kevin Franke, the soon-to-be ex-husband of Ruby Franke, asked a judge Friday for restitution from Jodi Hildebrandt for the two children who suffered abuse by her and his wife.
Ruby Franke, who ran the YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” and Hildebrandt, founder of Connexion Classroom, both pleaded guilty to several counts of aggravated child abuse after one of Ruby’s children escaped through the window of a house owned by Hildebrandt, according to court documents. Police said the child had duct tape on their ankles and wrists and was asking a neighbor for food and water.
Now, Kevin Franke is requesting Hildebrandt’s assets be used to pay for the medical and therapeutic care for the abuse two children faced.
Those children have undergone medical care, psychological assessments, and mental health treatments to help them recover from the abuse they faced. They will need care long-term, well-beyond Hildebrandt’s scheduled February sentencing, the court documents state.
According to the court documents, once the case concludes around September 2024, the costs for the care the children need will fall upon the children and their father, Kevin Franke.
“This would be a completely inequitable result; that the victims and victims’ family would have to pay for their own treatment for injuries caused by [Hildebrandt],” the court documents state.
The court documents allege Hildebrandt has resources from which the restitution could be funded, but that may not be the case soon, as her resources could be liquidated and become unavailable.
Under the Crime Victims Restitution Act, the child victims are entitled to restitution that will compensate for “any and all ongoing treatment of these injuries,” the court documents state.
Hildebrandt allegedly has assets and resources that would be enough to help pay for the restitution — in the form of real estate, financial accounts and other personal property.
According to the court documents, Kevin Franke discovered that on Jan. 4 Hildebrandt listed her Ivins, Utah home and property for sale. This was at least one of the locations where the crimes were allegedly committed against the children.
Kevin Franke’s attorney argued the children should be entitled to a share of any profit that home makes, which is listed at $5.1 million, to provide the restitution.
The filing asked the court to restrain Hildebrandt from signing, disposing of, concealing, or transferring the property until Hildebrandt’s sentencing on Feb. 20.
