Husband of YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke files for divorce
Nov 30, 2023, 7:30 AM | Updated: 9:21 am
Kevin Franke and his attorneys walk into a conference room following a juvenile court hearing on Sept. 18. On Wednesday, Franke filed for divorce from his wife Ruby Franke, a popular YouTube vlogger charged with abusing their children. Kevin Franke and his attorneys walk into a conference room following a juvenile court hearing on Sept. 18. (Emily Ashcraft/KSL.com)
(Emily Ashcraft/KSL.com)
SPRINGVILLE — The husband of YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke has filed for divorce.
Kevin Franke filed a petition for divorce on Wednesday in 4th District Court. The petition is sealed, as all divorce petitions are in Utah. But according to a domestic relations injunction also filed Wednesday, both sides must not harass each other, commit domestic violence against each other, or interfere with the other party’s insurance during the proceedings.
The injunction also prevents the Frankes from talking badly about the other party in front of their children, or “attempt to influence the children’s preference regarding custody or parent time” or “say or do anything that would negatively affect the love and affection of the children for the other party.”
The divorce filing comes nearly three months after Ruby Franke, 41, and Jodi Nan Hildebrandt, 54, of Ivins, were each charged in 5th District Court with six counts of aggravated child abuse.
The charges were filed after Franke’s son climbed out of a window in Ivins and ran to a neighbor’s home seeking food and water. Investigators said they later discovered that the boy had been tied to the ground before escaping.
Franke amassed millions of followers with her “8 Passengers” YouTube channel, which has since been taken down. The videos followed the lives of Franke, her husband and six children, with Franke offering parenting tips. Franke is the business partner of Hildebrandt, the founder of the Orem-based mental and emotional healing company “Connexions Classroom,” a company that says it helps people with addiction and mental health issues.
Their arrests have garnered worldwide attention. Because of the high interest, all documents in the case involving the Franke’s four juvenile children were ordered sealed in October.
As of Wednesday, the next court hearing in Ruby Franke’s criminal case had still not been scheduled.
