8 Passengers/YouTube
Kevin Franke, husband of former family vlogger Ruby Franke, was "brainwashed" and forced into isolation from his family, his attorney Randy Kester told Court TV.
Together with momfluencer Ruby, Kevin ran the once-successful YouTube channel 8 Passengers where he documented his life in Utah with his six children.
The channel, which at its peak had more than two million subscribers, shut down this year after allegations of child abuse began to mount.
The controversy centered around Ruby's punishments for misbehavior, which included withholding meals from her children and her son claiming he slept on a beanbag for several months.
In September, Ruby was arrested and charged with child abuse when one of her children appeared at a neighbor's door asking for food and water, and covered in injuries and duct tape.
Ruby's business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, with whom she ran the controversial YouTube channel ConneXions, was also arrested on the same charges after another of the Franke children was found at her home.
They are both in jail and awaiting trial. Neither woman entered a plea at a recent virtual hearing.
Kevin Franke filed for divorce from Ruby, and also filed a domestic relations injunction at the end of November, approximately three months after Ruby's arrest.
Kester told Court TV that Kevin had been through the "perfect storm" and he was "shocked" to find out what had happened to his children when they were under the care of Ruby and Hildebrandt.
He said Kevin had no knowledge of the situation because he had not been living with his family for over a year.
Kester suggested this was all due to the influence of Hildebrandt, who describes herself as a family therapist and educator. He said she had been acting as the family's counselor and had encouraged Kevin to move out of the house.
"Kevin loved his family a great deal and loved his wife a great deal. He did not want to be separated from them," Kester said in the interview. "He did not want to be apart from them, even to the point of not being able to speak to them. But he was persuaded by Jodi, who came as a trusted and upright professional to him."
Kester said Hildebrandt told Kevin that limiting communication and contact in this way would make the family more "wholesome."
Kevin was "living by himself in a small apartment," Kester said, while Ruby and the kids remained in their "quite large home in Springville."
"His communication with his children was zip," Kester told Court TV. "His communication with Ruby was only at her discretion."
Kester said he asked Kevin where he was when they first met and why he had agreed to be separated in this way.
"And he said, 'Randy, I was so desperate to get back with my wife and my children, I was willing to take anyone's advice who I thought was a professional and could help me reestablish my relationship and my bond with my kids and my family and my wife,'" he said.
"And he said in hindsight, 'I was brainwashed.'"
Hildebrandt's conduct has been thoroughly documented, including her therapy license being put on probation for 18 months after she spilled confidential details about a client to the Mormon Church.
Her interactions and relationship with Ruby have also been questioned. A woman named Debra Monsen who spent three nights in jail with Ruby talked to Business Insider about her experience, saying she seemed "really concerned" about being separated from Hildebrandt.
She said Ruby seemed "almost childlike" and "smitten" with her.
"She said, 'God, how long are they going to keep us in here? And why did they separate me and Jodi?'" Monsen said. "She said, 'I can't understand why they separated me and my friend.'"
BI reached out to attorneys for Ruby and Hildebrandt but has not heard back.
