Ruby Franke's Therapist Had A 'Panic Room' With Torture Devices, Crime Scene Photos Show
The torture devices used by YouTuber Ruby Franke and her family therapist, Jodi Hildebrandt, on the momfluencer's children have been revealed in newly released crime scene photos and footage.
As seen in the photos and video obtained by People and Law & Crime, police recovered rope, handcuffs and a bowl of cayenne pepper paste from Hildebrandt's home in Ivins, Utah, after Franke's 12-year-old son escaped on Aug. 30, 2023, and reported to authorities the abuse he suffered at the residence for months.
Many of the items, which served as evidence supporting the boy's story, were found in what authorities called a "panic room" in Hildebrandt's home.
Franke and Hildebrandt each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in December last year.
The mother of six and her family therapist were each sentenced to four terms of one to 15 years in prison last month.
Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested on Aug. 31, 2023, after the YouTuber's son, referred to as RF in court documents, climbed out of a window in Hildebrandt's home and ran to a neighbor's house, asking for help.
One neighbor who responded to the boy's plea asked him to take a seat on his front porch and called 911, as seen in the footage released by Utah prosecutors.
RF -- who was described by the neighbor as "emaciated" and had duct tape on open wounds -- was given water and a banana by the man's wife.
After police were called, the boy asked them to search for his younger sister, then 9, inside Hildebrandt's house.
Crime scene photos showed the girl sitting on the floor inside the closet where police found her. The child was also malnourished and had a shaved head.
Other photos showed the rope, surgical sponges, elastic bandages and the bowl filled with a paste made of cayenne pepper and honey that officers recovered from the residence.
In the so-called panic room, police saw a Murphy bed, toilet, microwave, empty fridge and freezer set and rope tied to thick metal chains linked to a set of handcuffs.
RF told officers that his mother and Hildebrandt used the paste to dress the injuries he sustained when his wrists and ankles were bound using handcuffs and ropes.
In her plea agreement, Franke detailed the abuse she and Hildebrant inflicted on RF from May to August 2023, including forcing him to do hours of physical tasks and outdoor work, denying him food and water, and punishing him when he secretly drank water, CBS News reported.
The social media personality also confessed to other instances of torture, such as holding her son's head underwater and kicking him in the head while wearing boots.
In addition, Franke admitted in the plea agreement that they isolated her son without giving him access to any books, notebooks, or electronics.
The boy's hands and feet were also regularly bound, sometimes with handcuffs, after he tried to escape in July 2023.
Franke said her daughter was also forced to work outside without food and water and run on dirt roads barefoot, causing her feet to be "repeatedly injured."
Franke said she tried to convince both her son and daughter that they were "evil and possessed" and that the punishments were "necessary" for them to repent.
The children were also told that the torture they endured was "acts of love," according to the plea agreement.