Newly released video shows the malnourished son of a parenting advice YouTuber approaching a neighbor for help on the morning that his mother and her business partner were arrested on child abuse charges.

The malnourished and badly bruised son of a parenting advice YouTuber politely asks a neighbor to take him to the nearest police station in newly released video from the day his mother and her business partner were arrested on child abuse charges in southern Utah.

The 12-year-old son of Ruby Franke, a mother of six who dispensed advice to millions via a popular YouTube channel, had escaped through a window and approached several nearby homes until someone answered the door, according to documents released Friday by the Washington County Attorney’s office.

Crime scene photos, body camera video and interrogation tapes were released a month after Franke and business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, a mental health counselor, were each sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. A police investigation determined religious extremism motivated the women to inflict horrific abuse on Franke’s children, Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke announced Friday.

“The women appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for imagined ‘sins’ and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies,” Clarke said.

  • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
    3·
    8 months ago

    Mormons are Christians. You might disagree, but you don’t get to judge who goes to heaven, do you? All religions based around the worship of Jesus are Christianity, by definition. You know the difference between a religion and a cult, right? Do you think the ancient 1st century gnostics would recognize your preferred brand of modern Christianity as the same religion, or as a dangerous heresy instead?

    Christians advocate for child abuse all the time. You just refuse to acknowledge that your fundamental doctrines for raising children are abusive.