Jodi Hildebrandt lived a rich way of life — courtesy of her faith-based ConneXions programs — earlier than she was arrested for baby abuse.
In Netflix’s documentary Evil Influencer, which premiered on Tuesday, December 30, Hildebrandt’s life as a Utah therapist was reexamined following her arrest for baby abuse alongside YouTuber Ruby Franke.
“After we had been looking the residence, in Jody Hildebrandt’s closet we situated a big duffel bag with about $80,000 money,” detective Jessica Bate recalled. “In Jodi’s workplace I situated a e-book with all of her purchasers. She was assembly [about] 46 individuals per week.”
The doc additionally interviewed Hildebrandt’s purchasers, who recalled going via monetary points whereas subscribing to her ConneXions self-help courses.
“Jodi was making some huge cash. I may do some math proper now,” mentioned one of many males who took her programs prior to now. “I used to be paying her $175 an hour for each particular person session after which a women and men’s group was $75 per week. Paying for your self and one other particular person — that was $2,000.”
One other member of Hildebrandt’s teachings revealed she was “paying greater than” her mortgage to Hildebrandt “each month,” including, “We ended up in a lot debt that we had maxed out all of our bank cards. We paid effectively over $50,000. I bear in mind on the time, saying, ‘It’s value it for us to heal after which have a superb life collectively.’”
Jody Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke. Mothers of Fact/Instagram
Evil Influencer concluded that Hildebrandt, 56, was making a minimum of $46,000 per week. She received her begin as a therapist earlier than founding ConneXions, which was a program that provided marital, parenting and life counseling — often to fellow Mormons.
Hildebrandt grew to become pals with Franke, 43, in 2019 after connecting via their church. From there, Ruby and then-husband Kevin Franke began attending ConneXions courses to work on their marriage, which subsequently fell aside.
Ruby and Hildebrandt began to reside along with the influencer’s youngsters till they had been arrested. (Ruby and Kevin welcomed six youngsters, which was documented on their 8 Passengers channel when it initially launched in 2015. Ruby and Hildebrandt in the end rebranded into Mothers of Fact in an effort to share extra faith-based content material.)
The duo had been arrested and charged on six counts of kid abuse in 2023. The arrest got here after Ruby’s youngest son, who was 12 years previous on the time, escaped from Hildebrandt’s residence and requested for assist from a neighbor. Authorities observed that the kid was malnourished and had duct tape on his ankles and wrists.
YouTuber Ruby Franke and life coach buddy Jodi Hildebrandt had been arrested and charged for felony baby abuse — however the place are they now? Ruby and husband Kevin Franke began their 8 Passengers channel in 2015. Initially, their content material featured the couple and their six youngsters earlier than Ruby’s buddy Hildebrandt got here into the image. Ruby and […]
In December 2023, Ruby pleaded responsible to 4 counts of kid abuse and admitted she tortured her youngsters. As a part of her plea deal, she agreed to serve a jail time period and that her sentences would run consecutively. She additionally agreed to testify towards Hildebrandt, who additionally pleaded responsible to 4 counts and was sentenced to between 4 and 60 years in jail. They received’t serve greater than 30 years because of a Utah regulation regarding consecutive sentences.
Hildebrandt is presently serving a 4 to 30-year sentence on the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake Metropolis. She received’t seem earlier than the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole — which determines the precise size of her sentence — till December 2026.
YouTube has banned Ruby and Hildebrandt and deleted the channels related to their names. Hildebrandt’s counseling license was frozen following their arrest. In a recording of Hildebrandt’s name from jail that was launched months after her arrest, she defended herself and mentioned Ruby’s son “did that to himself” when discussing his intensive accidents.
The high-profile case was the topic of Lifetime’s 2024 film Mormon Mother Gone Fallacious: The Ruby Franke Story with Emilie Ullerup as Ruby and Heather Locklear as Hildebrandt. Hulu launched a docuseries — Satan within the Household: The Fall of Ruby Franke — in February with Ruby’s ex-husband and two eldest youngsters featured within the collection.
That very same month, Investigation Discovery made Ruby and Hildebrandt the topic of their The Curious Case collection. The community subsequently produced Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Affect, which was launched in September.
Should you or somebody you realize is experiencing baby abuse, name or textual content Little one Assist Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
