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Where is Ruby Franke now? As of August 14, 2026, Ruby Franke is serving her Utah sentence at Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. Her first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026, but the hearing does not guarantee release. Her divorce is final, and Kevin Franke has reported full custody of their four minor children.
The former 8 Passengers creator pleaded guilty to four aggravated-child-abuse counts in December 2023 and received four consecutive one-to-15-year prison terms in February 2024. Current reporting also separates confirmed facts from unresolved questions about Franke’s relationship with Jodi Hildebrandt, her rehabilitation, and her future family relationships.
Key takeaways
- Ruby Franke is incarcerated at Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City as of August 14, 2026, according to current Netflix Tudum coverage.
- Franke pleaded guilty in December 2023 to four counts of aggravated child abuse and received four consecutive prison terms of one to 15 years.
- Franke’s first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026, but the hearing does not guarantee release.
- Ruby and Kevin Franke’s divorce was finalized in March 2025, and Kevin received reported full custody of their four minor children with Ruby ordered not to have contact with them under the reported terms.
- The 8 Passengers family-vlogging channel is defunct; the family’s story now continues through court records, a memoir, and documentary coverage.
- Utah adopted child-influencer protections in 2025 requiring qualifying creators to place 15% of certain child-featured content earnings into trusts for the children.
Where is Ruby Franke now?
Ruby Franke is still serving her Utah prison sentence at Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City as of August 14, 2026. Netflix Tudum reports that Franke is housed separately from Jodi Hildebrandt and that Franke’s first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026. The December hearing is a review date, not a guaranteed release date, and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide what happens next. Netflix Tudum’s current status explainer is the source for the reported prison-location and parole information.
The exact hearing date and outcome were not available by the August 14, 2026 research cutoff. No reliable source reviewed for this article established Franke’s housing unit, daily routine, disciplinary record, private correspondence, or the final result of the December 2026 hearing.
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| Question | Current answer | What remains unknown |
|---|---|---|
| Where is Ruby Franke? | Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, according to current Netflix Tudum coverage. | Her exact housing unit and daily routine. |
| Is Ruby Franke still in prison? | Yes, as of August 14, 2026. | Whether the parole board will later authorize release. |
| When can Ruby Franke get out? | Her first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026. | No release date has been reported, and a hearing does not guarantee release. |
| Is Ruby Franke still with Jodi Hildebrandt? | Current coverage says the two women are held in separate sections. | Whether that separation has continued and what their current relationship is. |
What is Ruby Franke’s sentence?
Ruby Franke pleaded guilty on December 18, 2023, to four counts of aggravated child abuse. The plea agreement and statement of defendant records that the Utah Fifth District Court accepted the plea as freely, knowingly, and voluntarily made.
On February 20, 2024, a Utah court sentenced Franke to four consecutive prison terms of one to 15 years each. According to CBS News’ February 20, 2024 sentencing report, Utah’s indeterminate sentencing system gives the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole authority to determine the actual period served. The sentence has a reported minimum of four years and an aggregate maximum of 30 years.
| Legal milestone | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Escape and report | August 30, 2023 | Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped from Jodi Hildebrandt’s home and sought help from a neighbor. |
| Guilty plea | December 18, 2023 | Four aggravated-child-abuse counts; the court accepted the plea. |
| Sentencing | February 20, 2024 | Four consecutive terms of one to 15 years. |
| First parole hearing | Scheduled for December 2026 | The hearing may affect what happens next, but it does not itself guarantee release. |
What happened to Ruby Franke’s children?
The criminal case concerned abuse of Franke’s youngest son and daughter. The plea and sentencing materials describe restraint, physical torture, forced labor, prolonged exposure to heat, inadequate food and water, and coercive religious explanations for the punishment. The identities of the minor children involved or placed in protective custody have generally been withheld in court reporting.
Ruby and Kevin Franke’s divorce was finalized in March 2025. KSL’s report on the divorce terms says Kevin received full custody of the couple’s four minor children and that Ruby was ordered not to have contact with them under the reported custody terms. Netflix Tudum also reports that the four younger siblings are under Kevin’s care.
Rank #2
Ruby Franke’s two oldest children were adults when the arrests occurred. Shari Franke later published The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom in January 2025. The memoir provides a first-person family perspective, but it is not a substitute for the plea agreement, sentencing record, or custody orders.
Readers seeking that personal account may want to look for the Shari Franke memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom. The book should be understood as a memoir rather than an impartial legal history or official court document.
Does Ruby Franke still make videos?
Ruby Franke has not been reliably reported as having resumed public content creation, launched a new channel, or established a current business from prison. The 8 Passengers family-vlogging channel is defunct. The family’s public story has continued through court coverage, Shari Franke’s memoir, and documentary projects rather than a return to the former family-vlogging business.
The Associated Press reported in 2025 that the Franke family’s online content had reached an audience of 2.5 million viewers. That audience figure belongs to the AP’s 2025 reporting and should not be interpreted as evidence that the channel remains active.
What does the documentary say about Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt?
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story provides current documentary context about Franke and Hildebrandt, including the reported prison separation and audio suggesting that Franke had begun distancing herself from Hildebrandt. Documentary director Olivia Crist expressed uncertainty about whether that separation had continued. The reported documentary material does not independently establish Franke’s private prison life or prove that Franke has changed.
Rank #3
| Source | Perspective | Best use | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| The House of My Mother | First-person family memoir by Shari Franke | Understanding a daughter’s account of the family experience | It is not an official court record or impartial legal history. |
| Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story | Filmmaker-led documentary | Case reconstruction and current narrative context | Reported documentary claims about prison relationships are not the same as independently verified prison intelligence. |
| Ruby Franke’s plea agreement | Court document | Confirming the guilty plea and admitted conduct | It does not provide a complete account of every family member’s later experience. |
| Custody reporting and orders | Family-law status | Understanding divorce and reported custody terms | Minor children’s identities and private circumstances remain protected or unavailable. |
Has Ruby Franke changed or rejected Jodi Hildebrandt’s influence?
That question cannot be answered as an established fact. Known information includes Franke’s guilty plea, her prison sentence, the reported separation from Hildebrandt, and documentary audio interpreted as showing that Franke had begun distancing herself. Whether Franke has genuinely rejected Hildebrandt’s influence, changed her beliefs, or rebuilt trust with family members remains interpretive and unsettled.
Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke described the prosecution’s interpretation of the case in a statement reported by CBS News: “This is a case about religious extremism. The defendants appear to have fully believed that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined ‘sins’ and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies.” That statement is a prosecutor’s characterization of the case, not a finding that resolves Franke’s present beliefs.
How did the Ruby Franke case change Utah’s rules for family creators?
Utah enacted protections for children featured in online creator content in March 2025. According to the Associated Press’ March 25, 2025 report, qualifying creators who earn more than $150,000 per year from content featuring children must set aside 15% of those earnings in a trust accessible to the children when they turn 18. The law also provides a mechanism for adults to seek removal of content featuring them as minors.
The policy response addresses two separate risks: children may appear in monetized content without meaningful ability to consent, and childhood footage may remain online after the child becomes an adult. Kevin Franke testified on the issue, saying, “Children cannot give informed consent to be filmed on social media, period.” The AP reported that statement in its coverage of Utah’s 2025 child-influencer protections.
Rank #4
| Protection | Who or what it addresses | Reported rule or mechanism |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings protection | Children featured in qualifying creator content | Creators earning more than $150,000 per year from qualifying content must set aside 15% in a trust. |
| Access to funds | Children whose images or participation helped generate qualifying earnings | Trust funds become accessible when the children turn 18. |
| Control over old content | Adults who appeared in content as minors | The law provides a mechanism to seek removal of qualifying content. |
What is known—and unknown—about Ruby Franke now?
The strongest current facts are narrow: Ruby Franke remains incarcerated in Utah as of August 14, 2026; she pleaded guilty to four aggravated-child-abuse counts; she received four consecutive one-to-15-year terms; her first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026; and Kevin Franke has reported full custody of the four minor children after the March 2025 divorce.
Other claims require caution. The available sources do not establish Franke’s exact prison conditions, disciplinary history, private communications, rehabilitation progress, or future relationship with her children. A December 2026 parole hearing should not be reported as a December 2026 release. The Utah Department of Corrections provides an official offender-search system, but the retrieved research did not expose a direct Ruby Franke record there; the current prison-location statement therefore relies on Netflix Tudum’s current status reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ruby Franke still in prison?
Ruby Franke is still incarcerated at Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City as of August 14, 2026. Her first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026, but no release decision had been reported by the research cutoff.
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Will Ruby Franke be released in 2026?
Ruby Franke’s first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026. The hearing is not a guaranteed release date; the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will determine what happens next.
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Does Ruby Franke still have custody of her children?
Kevin Franke received reported full custody of the couple’s four minor children after the divorce was finalized in March 2025. Ruby Franke was reported to have no contact with the children under the custody terms.
Does Ruby Franke still make YouTube videos?
Ruby Franke’s 8 Passengers family-vlogging channel is defunct. No reliable researched source indicates that Franke has resumed public content creation or launched a new channel from prison.
The Bottom Line
As of August 14, 2026, Ruby Franke remains imprisoned at Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. Her first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2026, but no release is guaranteed or yet reported. Her divorce is final, Kevin Franke has reported full custody of the four minor children, and 8 Passengers is no longer operating.
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