[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Ruby Franke’s 11-year-old daughter is opening up about how her mom “used” her.
A House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee hearing was held in Utah on Tuesday, where the convicted child abuser’s estranged husband Kevin Franke and minor daughters spoke up about the life they were subjected to living under Ruby’s rule. If you’re not familiar, Ruby ran the 8 Passengers lifestyle channel on YouTube where she presented a happy, healthy, and overall pristine family… Where behind the scenes she subjected her kids to abuse.
During the hearing, Kevin read a statement on behalf of his 11-year-old daughter about her experience being filmed for the vlog. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the statement read:
“I thought nothing was wrong. I felt ‘happy,’ but I really wasn’t. When I started getting older, I realized the YouTube channel had ruined my childhood.”
That’s so sad…
The little girl’s statement added she’s “stuck with the trauma of YouTube” for many reasons:
“Even now, I can barely make friends, because my whole life I was the center of the attention. But now, without even realizing it, I seek attention from others, or I feel like they don’t like me. Then those people think I’m mean.”
Poor thing. The statement continued:
“You all might be saying right now that my dad told me to say these things, and is using me, but that is not true. If anyone is using their kids, it’s the YouTubers filming them for money.”
Speaking of money, the preteen acknowledged that at the very least she “got some money” … except she really didn’t because her mom stole it! She claimed:
“Oh, right, I actually didn’t, because my mom withdrew all of it in 2023. I worked hard for that money. I acted like someone I wasn’t in front of the camera, and I earned that money. But I feel like my mom used me for money.”
So awful.
At the hearing, the victimized Franke family spoke in support of a new bill that would require influencer parents who make over $150,000 per year from content featuring their children to deposit 15 percent into a trust fund for them. Sadly, however, it’s too late for the Franke children.
Kevin also read a statement on behalf of his 16-year-old, telling the room:
“As kids, you don’t realize what you’re subjected to. You’re selling your life, your privacy, your body and stories to the entire world. And as a child, you’re involuntarily giving up all of that. You’re selling your childhood.”
How completely awful!
The statement noted that if the bill had been law during 8 Passengers’ heyday, “My mom would not have been able to withdraw all of my savings I had from doing YouTube”:
“Though there is no amount of money that can make up for that loss, the least that can be done now is making sure the child is getting paid for her work and has the right to remove it and walk away if she wants to.”
After all the shocking child abuse was uncovered in 2023, Ruby was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Our hearts continue to be with the children of the Franke family.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org
[Images via Moms of Truth/Instagram]
