UT - Parenting influencer, Ruby Franke, and blogger/podcast partner Jodi Hildebrandt, arrested for Child Abuse, Aug 2023 #2

[Lusitana]

I didn't know that Shari had her own YT show.

@ 6:35..her college fund bank account was cleared out.
Her explanations make absolutely no sense and of course she never mentions questioning her parents about the money or says how much money was stolen.
She was saving for college since age 5.

Ruby took Shari's money. I think she wanted to study in Boston and since there was no money, she had to stay fairly locally at BYU. In hindsight I bet Ruby know looks back and wishes she had let Shari go to Boston. I'm glad she fought for her siblings.

 

[Izzylizzy]

My problem with some of the vitriol against Kevin is that he’s clearly gone through every step of classic brainwashing. The kind they use on POW’s. These were also the methods used on the kids, the youngest 4, I would guess.

I’m including more than EF and RF because when he was rescued by the neighbor couple, he said he had 2 sisters at Jodi’s, but he hadn’t seen either for a month. This is also why LE was looking for 2 girls when they entered Jodi’s house, and not just one. So, there had to be at least one more child who is a potential victim. This, I assume, was the frightened young one at Pam’s.

I don’t believe at all that Kevin is blameless for his past, but I’m less sure about his position now. IMO it’s gonna take a long time to unwind the brainwashing. He also is able to identify some elements of what the kids went through, since the same techniques were used on him. He mentioned this in his second interview. I do think this detail will be helpful to the kids, as there’s healing they can do together. He can also corroborate their experience, and seems willing to do so.

IMO Kevin was too brainwashed in the first interview to take in anything. And the realities of the second interview haven’t quite settled in. I don’t believe this is abnormal. So many times, we can see truth in our dysfunctional families, yet we don’t want to believe it, so we can’t act on it: if separated, we might even go running back. I can certainly identify with this. It’s very very difficult to reckon with family dysfunction, and if you’ve been part of the mechanism? Extreme.

Sometimes fathers who once were cads can step up and start acting like fathers. There are examples of this in livestreams from family courts. So, I haven’t written Kevin off. After a time, I’d like to see how he’s evolved before giving final judgment. In the meantime, I hope he either isn’t given 100% custody, or at the very least, has been given multiple guardrails by DCF. He should be getting parenting classes, random visits (with kids interviewed out of earshot), de-programming, how to be a single dad, etc. The kids should be enrolled in a real school: none of this home-schooling rot that makes them vulnerable to abuse. I also think Kevin should pay back his older son for the “therapy” he received from Jodi, all those years at his own expense, $900 per month (see Kevin’s second LE interview).

I believe it’s really important to understand brainwashing techniques in all this. Adults and not just children are susceptible. Even the most stalwart of POW’s succumb. We’re talking Patty Hearst level.

IMO:

KF retained a lawyer and his lawyer told him this all looks bad-bad-bad,really bad for you and we need a defense strategy.

Portraying KF a being a "brainwashed" victim is the defense his lawyer and he agreed on to try and distance/deflect himself from his blatant negligence as a father.

How much time between KF's 1st and 2nd interview is what I would like to know.

I'm interested when KF with his lawyer, did his 2nd video interview.
I've read the date was undisclosed when it was released and I can't find one.

Kevin did say at the end of the 2nd interview that he wants to do all he can to help them (LE).

So did KF and his lawyer just call LE and say they wanted a sit-down and KF has info he thinks will help them?

Or was KF contacted by LE saying they wanted to speak with him again and asked him to come in and KF with his lawyer volunteered to come in?

 

[Izzylizzy]

Ruby took Shari's money. I think she wanted to study in Boston and since there was no money, she had to stay fairly locally at BYU. In hindsight I bet Ruby know looks back and wishes she had let Shari go to Boston. I'm glad she fought for her siblings.

I didn't watch their YT so was that the end of SF's missing college money after her video saying it was stolen?

 

[Izzylizzy]

We're to believe that RF & KF just miraculously realized that it was all brainwashing and they're fine now?
IMO:
If RF & KF were truly brainwashed they wouldn't be able to immediately turn it off and realize how deceived they've been.
For a person to be that deeply ingrained into a cult of any sort, it can take years to undo with highly specialized shrinks and that's with a willing ex-cult client.

 

[RickshawFan]

JH and RF were planning to purchase acreage in Arizona, and I'll speculate that the money was going towards that purchase. But to take it out in cash, and not just move it into a new bank account is crazy.

She could hide it away from a divorce.

 

[RickshawFan]

We're to believe that RF & KF just miraculously realized that it was all brainwashing and they're fine now?
IMO:
If RF & KF were truly brainwashed they wouldn't be able to immediately turn it off and realize how deceived they've been.
For a person to be that deeply ingrained into a cult of any sort, it can take years to undo with highly specialized shrinks and that's with a willing ex-cult client.

IMO RF doesn't show any signs of being brainwashed (note she wasn't cut off from all social engagement as Kevin was). Kevin had some time before the second interview. It was about time he examined his life for real; until then he thought Jodi was a goddess. But it isn't easy to shed brainwashing.

 

[realanastasia]

Finally states are passing laws to protect minor's money.

Interesting reads on parents exploiting their kids for bucks.
"Vanessa" (pseudonym) gives good insight to what her life was like.

These Kids Made Their Influencer Parents Wealthy. Will They See a Dime of That Money?

In the unregulated world of vloggers, children are, for the most part, not entitled to a single cent they help earn. We spoke to creators—and the child of a mommy blogger—to understand how this unusual family business actually works.

www.cosmopolitan.com

Paywall for me.
Anyone have a sub?
RF is mentioned.

Child Influencers Make Big Money. Who Gets It?

Some of the most popular influencers can amass small fortunes before they’re 18, but there are few legal protections to ensure their earnings remain their own.

www.nytimes.com

Here you go, I have a subscription and a couple free articles available to share. Child Influencers Make Big Money. Who Gets It?

 

[RickshawFan]

Were the Toxic Trinity end-day preppers ?
Stocking up on meds is crucial for them.

I'm thinking "medication" in quote marks. Let's try this: peyote, MDMA, coca, fentanyl, propofol, valium, tramadol, tusi, thc edibles, uppers and downers, adderal, epinephrine, steroids, naloxone, hydrocodone, khat, xylazine, psychotropic drugs....

 

[Izzylizzy]

I'm thinking "medication" in quote marks. Let's try this: peyote, MDMA, coca, fentanyl, propofol, valium, tramadol, tusi, thc edibles, uppers and downers, adderal, epinephrine, steroids, naloxone, hydrocodone, khat, xylazine, psychotropic drugs....

I was thinking antibiotics..silly me. lol

 

[Izzylizzy]

Here you go, I have a subscription and a couple free articles available to share. Child Influencers Make Big Money. Who Gets It?

Thank you!

“A lot of our labor laws treat employment by a parent differently,” Ms. Steinberg said. “If I have a farm and my child is working on my farm, they can work in much more dangerous conditions than they can work on your farm.” The question for courts, she said, is, Where does private family life end, and where does the state’s right to step in and protect children begin?'

 

[Izzylizzy]

But where is the money she drained from the kids college savings fund?

Wasn't it a few years ago that Shari's college fund was wiped out?
I doubt that money was still around when RF was arrested.

 

[Luna20]

Wasn't it a few years ago that Shari's college fund was wiped out?
I doubt that money was still around when RF was arrested.

Where are the funds now?
Have they been accounted for? Do you know how they were bringing money in?

 

[Izzylizzy]

Where are the funds now?
Have they been accounted for? Do you know how they were bringing money in?

I have no idea what RF did with the money.
What happened to her business ?

rubydoboutique​

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[Lusitana]

I didn't watch their YT so was that the end of SF's missing college money after her video saying it was stolen?

Yep, the poor thing just accepted it was gone and went to BYU.

 

[Howl]

I'm thinking "medication" in quote marks. Let's try this: ...xylazine...

Xylazine has entered the drug abuse chat in the last few years.
Xylazine is a non-opioid sedative or tranilizer used in veterinary practice; it's not approved for human use. It's increasingly showing up mixed with fentanyl, heroine and the other usual suspects in human overdoses and overdose deaths.

Segway!
Ruby Franke WIKI: "As of June 2020, the channel had around 2.5 million subscribers and amassed 1 billion views..." I wonder when JH realized that if she could capture even a small number of RF's on-line following for ConneXions, she could be crazy rich. Yes, I realize that 8 Passengers had stopped, but out of that 2.5 million, there had to be a LOT of die-hard followers still looking for RF content and then they found Ruby over at ConneXions.

MOO: I'll speculate that at some point JH made a conscious decision to co-opt RF for her own ends and capture those die-hard RF fans for ConneXions.

I also find it fascinating that during the post-arrest fall out, RF adamantly denied being "in business" with JH, and claimed she never made any $$$ from ConneXions.

 

[Luna20]

Xylazine has entered the drug abuse chat in the last few years.
Xylazine is a non-opioid sedative or tranilizer used in veterinary practice; it's not approved for human use. It's increasingly showing up mixed with fentanyl, heroine and the other usual suspects in human overdoses and overdose deaths.

Segway!
Ruby Franke WIKI: "As of June 2020, the channel had around 2.5 million subscribers and amassed 1 billion views..." I wonder when JH realized that if she could capture even a small number of RF's on-line following for ConneXions, she could be crazy rich. Yes, I realize that 8 Passengers had stopped, but out of that 2.5 million, there had to be a LOT of die-hard followers still looking for RF content and then they found Ruby over at ConneXions.

MOO: I'll speculate that at some point JH made a conscious decision to co-opt RF for her own ends and capture those die-hard RF fans for ConneXions.

I also find it fascinating that during the post-arrest fall out, RF adamantly denied being "in business" with JH, and claimed she never made any $$$ from ConneXions.

This is what I have a hard time understanding:

How did she have a massive following with what she was doing? Making your child suffer outside in the sun, no lunch, etc. Were they in agreement with her?

 

[Kudzu]

I’m trying to understand the relationship between RF and JH? Are they lovers?

 

[Cool Cats]

This is what I have a hard time understanding:

How did she have a massive following with what she was doing? Making your child suffer outside in the sun, no lunch, etc. Were they in agreement with her?

Same way she fooled her own brother and family.

Franke’s brother, Beau Griffiths, said in a written statement:

“During her career on YouTube she often told me that her desire was to spread the message that mothers are important and that mothers have strength in nurturing their children.
I never had any concern for her and her children and I was impressed with how generous and kind she has always been to my own children. "

“Many of the teachings from the Connexions program were reasonable and good. Unfortunately, as I later discovered, that is what made the program so dangerous.”

Ruby Franke’s family say she was ‘brainwashed’ as she’s sentenced over child abuse

’Momfluencer’ Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt both face up to 60 years in prison

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Izzylizzy]

In the 8/30 interview KF told Ivin's LE that he got a call that he needed to go to the Ivin's police station to pick up his 2 kids.
He told LE he "wasn't comfortable" telling them who called him.
Turns out it was RF who called him.

***** Meanwhile RF knew the condition of R & E , especially R and she actually thought LE would just release the 2 children to their father no questions asked, no medical attention given and no investigation into child abuse?

 

[Howl]

Was KF doing "therapy" with JH during the year that he was banished to the small apartment with almost zero contact with RF and no contact with the kids?