Hulu has announced another new true crime documentary series, which will join others such as Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story and Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini on the streaming service.
Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke will look at the compelling story of a very popular vlogger who ended up charged with child abuse. The story will be presented in three parts, all of which will be available on Hulu in February.
Passion Pictures produced the original docu-series, which also produced Super / Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
Ruby Franke first became known to the general public through her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, in 2015. The channel focused on the lives of Ruby, her husband Kevin, and their six children.
By the time 2020 rolled around, 8 Passengers had a subscriber base of 2.5 million followers. But that was the same year the couple’s 16-year-old son claimed that he had been made to sleep on a bean bag outside of his bedroom for seven months, and viewers began to express concern. Reportedly, Ruby’s discipline methods included punishments such as withholding food from her children, threatening them with the promise that Santa would not be bringing them any gifts, and even sending one of them to a wilderness camp specified for troubled teenagers.
Someone launched a Change.org petition based on what was seen as child neglect and abuse, forcing Ruby and Kevin to defend themselves. They claimed the incidents cited were taken out of context, and 8 Passengers saw a steep decline in subscribers by 2021.
The Frankes separated in 2022, with Kevin moving out of their shared home. Ruby shut down the YouTube channel, and took a job as a mental health coach at a company called ConneXions, which was being run by Jodi Hildebrandt. Ruby and Hildebrandt started their own video channel, which they called ConnExions, along with an Instagram account known as Moms of Truth.
Frankes’ oldest daughter, Shari, who was a college student, feared that the younger children would be left home alone and asked law enforcement to check on the situation. This eventually led to Ruby and Hildebrandt being arrested and charged with six counts of child abuse.
That arrest happened after Ruby’s 12-year-old son escaped through a window in the house and went to a neighbor’s place to ask for food and water. The child was underweight, with open wounds and duct tape wrapped around his limbs. When authorities searched the house, they found the boy’s 10-year-old sister, who also appeared malnourished. In all, four children were removed from the house.
Devil in the Family will premiere on Hulu February 27
Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Frank includes interviews with Shari and Chad, the two oldest Franke children, as well as with Kevin Franke. The filmmakers also spoke with friends and neighbors, and were given access to over 1,000 hours of the Frankes’ YouTube Channel footage.
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