File photo : Rube Franke (L) and Jodi Nan Hildebrandt
A Utah woman who once provided parenting advice to more than two million YouTube followers remained in custody Saturday, charged with child abuse after her “emaciated” son escaped to look for food, officials said.
Both Ruby Franke and her business partner and collaborator Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested, according to a statement from the public safety department of Ivins, a small town in southwestern Utah.
Franke’s now defunct “8 Passengers” YouTube site, in which she and husband Kevin shared experiences raising their six children, offered lessons in strict discipline — so strict that many viewers had complained previously.
The statement from the Ivins health department said someone had phoned on Wednesday to report that a juvenile “who appeared to be emaciated and malnourished” had climbed out of a window in his…
