ID Series Explores the Psychological Manipulation of Jodi Hildebrandt, Convicted Along with Ruby Franke

Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt once promised couples and families she would help them flourish in their relationships.

Today, Hildebrandt is behind bars after pleading guilty to abusing the children of family vlogger and business partner Ruby Franke, who also pleaded guilty to the same crimes and is currently in prison.

Hildebrandt’s arrest came after Franke’s youngest son, who was 12 years old at the time, escaped from Hildebrandt’s home in August 2023 and sought help from a neighbor.

Hildebrandt’s life and misdeeds are now the subject of ID’s The Curious Case of… Jodi Hildebrandt, premiering Monday, Feb. 10 at 10/9c and streaming on Max. (The Curious Case Of… Jodi Hildebrandt is one of six episodes of ID’s new series, The Curious Case Of…. An exclusive clip is shown below).

Hildebrandt first came under fire in 2012 when her therapist’s license was suspended in Utah for violating patient confidentiality. In 2019, she met Franke — who first gained prominence in 2015 when she started her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, with her now-estranged husband, Kevin Franke — when Franke reached out for counseling services.

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Franke and Kevin — who are parents of six — began attending classes at ConneXions, a program founded by Hildebrandt. Franke later joined Hildebrandt as a co-host on the ConneXions podcast.

At one point, Hildebrandt moved into the Franke family home. But soon after, she suggested Franke and Kevin separate to save their marriage.

Kevin was later forced to move out of the family home.

In May 2023, Franke moved with her youngest children to Hildebrandt’s home in Ivins, Utah. That is where, authorities said, the two women subjected Franke’s two youngest children to torture, which included dressing the children’s wounds with cayenne pepper and honey, forcing them to work in the sweltering heat for hours with little food or water and plunging the youngest son’s head underwater.

Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse in August. After pleading guilty later that year, both Franke and Hildebrandt received four separate prison sentences of 1 to 15 years each, which will run consecutively.

The Curious Case Of … Jodi Hildebrandt premieres Monday, February 10 at 10/9c on ID. New episodes of The Curious Case Of… air weekly on ID and are available to stream on Max.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.