Jodi Hildebrandt, the business partner of former family vlogger Ruby Franke, pleaded guilty Wednesday to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse.
She was charged in Utah alongside Franke in September with six counts of felony child abuse, after the pair was arrested in August. Police had found one of Franke’s children with open wounds after escaping from Hildebrandt’s home, as well as another one of her children in similar malnourished condition inside her home.
Judge John Walton accepted Hildebrandt’s plea deal — which described the infliction of “physical torture” and “severe emotional harm” to the children found by police — in a Utah court and dismissed the remaining two counts. Her sentencing, like Franke’s, is scheduled for Feb. 20.
Hildebrandt and Franke often collaborated on parenting and relationship advice videos for Hildebrandt’s life coaching service ConneXions, which has been criticized for its extreme teachings.
Franke, who also pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse earlier this month, had agreed in her own plea deal to testify against Hildebrandt. The mom of six was known for her now-removed YouTube channel “8 Passengers,” in which she showcased family life and shared parenting advice to nearly 2.3 million subscribers.
In a statement released before her hearing, Franke’s legal representatives said Hildebrandt had “systematically isolated” Franke from her family and made her vulnerable to a “distorted sense of morality” under Hildebrandt’s influence.
Franke initially thought Hildebrandt "had the insight to offer a path to continual improvement," according to the statement. Hildebrandt "took advantage of this quest and twisted it into something heinous," the statement continued.
Lawyers for Hildebrandt and Franke did not respond to requests for comment.
Established in 2007, according to Hildebrandt’s LinkedIn page, ConneXions offered courses on relationships and parenting. Some former clients said its teachings are rooted in the principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as LDS or the Mormon church.
These former clients told NBC News that the program separated spouses, pathologized patients’ behaviors as evidence of various addictions and encouraged people to cut off those who didn’t live in accordance with its teachings.
Franke, who was listed as a “certified mental fitness trainer” on the ConneXions website, often appeared with Hildebrandt in ConneXions videos. In now-deleted YouTube videos viewed by NBC News, the two preached that those who were not living in “truth,” including children, should be cut off from the rest of their families.
Prior to her arrest this year, Franke had also been under fire for some of her now-deleted parenting vlogs. Viewers had accused Franke and her husband of being abusive for years.
Local child protective services were reportedly called in June 2020 after a Change.org petition called for the family to be investigated, citing an example from now-deleted video footage of her teenage son sharing that he’d slept on a beanbag for seven months as a punishment for behavioral issues.
