– Parenting influencer Bonnie Hoellein is distancing herself from her sister Ruby Franke, who was arrested on child abuse charges along with business partner Jodi Hildebrandt. The two women, who co-founded parent advice and counseling service ConneXions, are each facing six counts of felony child abuse.
– Bonnie has opened up about her estrangement from her sister, stating that Ruby and her husband Kevin cut off their family years ago. She has criticized Ruby’s controversial extreme parenting techniques and the practices of her company, ConneXions.
– Ruby and Jodi were arrested after one of Franke’s sons was found emaciated with open wounds and duct tape on his ankles and wrists. Ruby’s four minor children were taken into the care of Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services. Kevin, who has been living apart from Ruby for 13 months, has not been arrested or charged.
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Bonnie Hoellein is creating some distance from her sister, Ruby Franke. This comes after Ruby, a parenting influencer, and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested on child abuse charges. The charges were laid in late August. Ruby and Jodi, who co-founded a parent advice and counseling service, are now facing six counts of felony child abuse each.
E! News has tried to reach out to Ruby and Jodi’s legal representation. Unfortunately, contact information hasn’t been made available. Previous attempts to reach them directly have also failed. In light of the scandal, Bonnie has decided to open up about her estrangement from her sister. She explains that Ruby and Kevin, her husband, cut ties with their family years ago.
Bonnie expressed her feelings in a nearly 10-minute video posted on September 13. She said, “The first thing that I want to say is that we have kept quiet for three years on the topic of our sister Ruby and Jody and Kevin and ConneXions. We did not know what they were doing because, like we said, we were cut off, we did not have access to anyone.”
Bonnie didn’t hold back in criticizing Ruby and her husband’s extreme parenting techniques. She also took a shot at their company. “My thoughts towards Ruby and Jody and Kevin and ConneXions is that it was all bullcrap,” Bonnie continued. “It was complete indoctrination of this thing that they created. I don’t agree with how extreme they are on everything. I knew they were weird. I knew that they were off. Those are the things that we kept quiet about because what was I gonna say? What was I going to do? I was not going to come out and publicly say that I don’t like my sister and I don’t like what she’s doing and I think she’s weird. That is what we kept quiet about.”
Bonnie made it clear that she is not her sister. She said, “I am not my sister. I am not my sister’s mistakes.” Ruby, 41, and Jodi, 54, were arrested Aug. 30 after one of the Frankes’ sons, 12, climbed out a window at the latter’s home and went to a neighbor’s house, asking for food and water. He was found to be emaciated and with open wounds and duct tape on his ankles and wrists, according to an affidavit obtained by NBC News. Police also found his 10-year-old sister was found at the home in a similar malnourished condition, the document said, with the children ultimately being transported to a hospital for treatment.
Ruby and Kevin’s four minor children were taken into the care of Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services. As for Kevin, he has not been arrested or charged and his lawyer recently said on Good Morning America that his client has been living apart from Ruby for 13 months and is “distraught” over how the allegations are affecting his family.
Ruby and Jodi are currently being held in jail without bail ahead of a Sept. 21 hearing. “The more I learn, my feelings are turning more to anger,” Bonnie said in her video about the allegations. “I am mad. I am mad at what has happened. I am beyond disgusted and I feel like it makes me tremble. It makes me tremble because this is unheard of. It is truly unbelievable.”
She had previously spoken out against Ruby a day after her sister was arrested in a joint statement with sisters Ellie Mecham and Julie Deru. “For the last 3 years we have kept quiet on the subject of Ruby Franke for the sake of her children,” they wrote in their Aug. 31 note. “Behind the public scene, we have done everything to try and make sure the kids were safe. We wouldn’t feel right about moving forward with regular content without addressing the most recent events. Once we do, we will not be commenting on it any further.”
The sisters added, “Ruby was arrested which needed to happen. Jodi was arrested which needed to happen. The kids are now safe, which is the number one priority.” After Bonnie shared her YouTube video, Julie posted one of her own, saying that she did not think ConneXions was a good counseling resource for Ruby. “We all felt weird about this Jodi lady,” she noted. “We weren’t comfortable with it. We didn’t like it. We didn’t like the teachings Ruby was bringing to the family functions.”
Deru said that three years ago, Ruby “left the family,” adding, “I literally had no contact with her. She wouldn’t respond to any texts or emails.” “We are kind of in complete shock still as to what she had done,” she said, “because we had no idea of what was happening.” (E! and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
