West
Child-abusing mommy blogger Ruby Franke's daughter warns parents about posting kids' pictures online
The eldest daughter of Ruby Franke, the Utah parenting blogger convicted of child abuse in February, is sounding a warning to parents who post photos and videos of their children on blogs.
Franke, a 41-year-old mother of six, and her friend Jodi Hildebrandt, a 54-year-old mother of two, ran a joint parenting and lifestyle YouTube channel called ConneXions Classrooms. In December, both pleaded guilty in a St. George courtroom to four of six counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse inflicted upon two of the Frankes’ children.
“When children become stars in their family’s online content, they become child influencers,” Franke said in a statement before the Utah House of Representatives on Oct. 16. “It is more than just filming your family life and putting it online. It is a full-time job, with employees, business credit cards, managers, and marketing strategies. The difference between family vlogging and a normal business, however, is that the employees are all children. Children, from before they are born to the day they turn 18, have become the stars of family businesses on YouTube, Instagram, and most other social media platforms.”
Prior to ConneXions Classrooms, Franke ran her own parenting vlog, or video blog, on social media called 8Passengers, representing herself, her husband and their eight children.
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Blogger Ruby Franke pleaded guilty to child abuse in Utah. (Instagram/moms_of_truth)
Shari noted that Utah is a “hotspot for family content” due to the state’s culture surrounding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), noting that the goal of the church is to “share” that culture “with the world.”
“[T]here is NEVER, never a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame.”
“We also have large families, which makes family content more lucrative,” Shari noted. “Specifically, many parents film their regular family life as an online video blog, called vlogging. But I want to be clear that there is NEVER, never a good reason for posting your children online for money or fame.”
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Ruby Franke ran a joint YouTube page called ConneXions with Jodi Hildebrandt that aimed to teach some 4,650 followers how to “successfully navigate life.” (Instagram/moms_of_truth)
Franke teamed up with Hildebrandt, a formerly licensed therapist, in 2022, and the pair decided to start their own parenting vlog on YouTube, often staying together in Hildebrandt’s multi-million dollar home in St. George with Franke’s children. They also hosted conferences throughout the country aimed at giving parenting advice to those having trouble disciplining their children.
“There is no such thing as a moral or ethical family vlogger.”
Shari said her mother’s blog became the primary source of income for her household, but sometimes the money that her mother’s vlogging work brought to the table was used as a “bribe.”
YOUTUBE MOMMY BLOGGER RUBY FRANKE, CO-HOST JODI HILDEBRANDT SENTENCED FOR CHILD ABUSE: ‘DARK DELUSION’
Parenting blogger Jodi Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four of six counts of aggravated child abuse in connection with the physical and emotional harm of two of her co-host’s children. (Sheldon Demke/ St. George News/ Pool)
“For example, we’d be rewarded $100 or a shopping trip if we filmed a particularly embarrassing moment, or an exciting event,” Shari explained. “Or other times, simply going on vacation was expected to be payment enough—because most kids don’t get to go on regular and expensive vacations or trips. Never mind the fact that the child’s labor is actually what paid for the vacation or trip. There is no law in place to guarantee child influencers get any money from their work.”
She has since been calling on Utah lawmakers to consider implementing certain protections for child influencers.
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Most families in the area were aware that Franke had a YouTube channel called 8Passengers, her neighbor told Fox News Digital. When she started another vlog called “Moms of Truth”/ ConneXions on Facebook with Hildebrandt, “a few” neighbors became “very concerned” with the content, the neighbor said. (Moms of Truth/Instagram)
In 2023, the two pals and business partners were arrested for abusing Franke’s two youngest children, a 9-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy. Some of the abuse occurred in Hildebrandt’s home.
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The allegations against Franke and Hildebrandt only came to light after Franke’s son fled Hildebrandt’s Ivins home and ran to a neighbor, who called 911 after seeing the malnourished boy with duct tape on his wrists and ankles.
HEAR THE 911 CALL:
“For the past four years, I’ve chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion,” a teary Franke said in a statement during her February sentencing hearing. “My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me. I was led to believe this world was an evil place, filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash, church leaders who lie and lust, husbands who refuse to protect, children who need abuse.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS
“Kevin, my husband of more than 23 years, you are the love of my life. I’m so sorry to leave to you what we both started together,” Franke continued through sobs. “The ending of our marriage is a tragedy, and you are wrapped around my heart in a knot I’ll never be able to undo. To my babies, my six little chicks, you are part of me. I was the momma duck who was consistently waddling you to safety. . . . In the past four years, I was consistently leading you to danger. . . . I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and right was wrong.”
Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested and charged after Santa Clara police received a dispatch call asking for help. (Instagram/moms_of_truth)
Franke and Hildebrandt were both sentenced to serve four consecutive terms between one and 15 years each for each charge.
Shari’s comments before the Utah legislature on October 16 came 10 days ahead of the premiere of a Lifetime movie about her mother titled, “Mormon Mom Gone Wrong.”
Shari said on her Instagram story posted on October 4 that she and her siblings had never been contacted about the film and will not receive any proceeds.
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“This movie is trash, and only hurts my siblings more. Please do not support this movie,” she wrote at the time.
Simon and Schuster is set to publish Shari’s upcoming book, “The House of My Mother,” on January 7.
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Hawaii
$5 deal for National Fried Chicken Day
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Fried chicken fans have a reason to celebrate today as Popeyes Hawaii marks National Fried Chicken Day with a special one-day-only offer.
On Monday, July 6, participating Popeyes locations across Hawaii are offering five pieces of Signature Chicken for just $5, while supplies last. The deal includes a mix of legs and thighs and is limited to one order per customer and one per vehicle, with no substitutions.
Popeyes says the promotion is a fun way for customers to enjoy its signature crispy, Louisiana-style fried chicken at a value price while celebrating the national food holiday.
The offer is available today only at participating Popeyes Hawaii restaurants including Aiea, Waipahu (Waikele), Kunia, Kapolei, Kailua, Kaneohe, and Pāhoa (Big Island). The offer is limited to one per vehicle in the drive-thru and one order per customer for dine-in, while supplies last.
For more information and participating locations, visit popeyeshawaii.com.
Idaho
An Idaho mother who said her toddler twins died after vaccinations has been charged with murder
An Idaho woman who said her toddler twins died last year after being vaccinated faces murder charges connected to their deaths, authorities said.
A grand jury indicted Andrea Shaw, who is accused of suffocating her 18-month-old twins in May 2025, on two counts of first-degree murder on June 29, according to court records and a news release from the Payette Police Department.
While appearing last year on an internet show produced by Children’s Health Defense — an anti-vaccine group founded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Shaw said her twins died after getting vaccinated. Kennedy has not been affiliated with the group since December 2024, when he formally resigned as chairman to join President Donald Trump’s administration.
Shaw, 23, was arrested by Boise police officers Tuesday and arraigned Thursday. She is being held on a $2 million bond and could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted or if she pleads guilty to first-degree murder. Her next court appearance is July 14.
An attorney representing Shaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Payette Police Department and the Payette County prosecutor declined to comment Monday.
During her May 2025 appearance on the Children’s Health Defense show, Shaw said she found her twins dead in their room days after they got vaccinated for the flu and other diseases.
“They had got their shots at the same time by two nurses at the same time,” Shaw said. “And they got sick.”
Medical experts point out that the childhood vaccines at issue — hepatitis A, influenza and DTaP — are safe and effective for kids and recommended by various medical groups.
Shaw is also a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit brought by Children’s Health Defense and others against the American Academy of Pediatrics. The lawsuit, which was filed in January in federal court in Washington, accuses the American Academy of Pediatrics of racketeering for its “central role in an enterprise that has defrauded American families about the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule for several decades.” In the lawsuit, Shaw is described as a mother “whose children died following routine vaccinations administered according to AAP guidelines.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics has asked the court to dismiss the suit, asserting in an April court filing that it is the “latest missive in a campaign targeting” the academy and its “use of science-backed evidence in vaccine policy.”
In January, pediatricians and other experts became alarmed when U.S. health officials made broad changes to childhood vaccine guidance, dropping several universal recommendations. Kennedy, who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years, said the changes better align the U.S. with peer nations “while strengthening transparency and informed consent.”
In March, a federal judge blocked the changes and said Kennedy likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee. But the judge’s order is not the final word; the blocks are temporary, pending either a trial or a decision for summary judgment.
Montana
Flathead River to close temporarily for Sportsman’s Bridge beam work
BIGFORK, Mont. — Boaters on the Flathead River near Bigfork will face a temporary closure this week as crews continue work on the new Sportsman’s Bridge.
The Montana Department of Transportation and Sletten Construction will continue constructing the new bridge on Montana Highway 82 northwest of Bigfork by placing steel beams over the east side of the Flathead River. The beams will support the deck of the new bridge.
To safely complete the work, the river beneath the bridge will be temporarily closed from 7 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 9.
No boat traffic will be allowed to travel under the bridge during that time.
The following was sent out by Montana Department of Transportation:
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and Sletten Construction will continue constructing the new Sportsman’s Bridge on Montana Highway 82 (MT 82) northwest of Bigfork by placing steel beams over the east side of the Flathead River. These beams will support the deck of the new bridge.
To safely complete this work, the river beneath the bridge will be temporarily closed from 7 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 9.
No boat traffic will be allowed to travel under the bridge during this time.
This closure area includes approximately 20 feet upstream and 300 feet downstream of the bridge and applies to all motorized and non-motorized watercraft, including kayaks, canoes, rafts, and paddleboards.
The Sportsman’s Bridge Fishing Access Site will remain open during this time for boaters traveling southbound (downstream) on the river toward Flathead Lake.
No traffic impacts are anticipated for motorists traveling on MT 82 during this work.
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