Child Abuse and Religion: Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt

This week, Idaho authorities released some of the evidence in the case of the "Eight Passengers" mommy vlogger Ruby Franke and her business partner, bad therapist Jodi Hildebrandt.  Ruby and Jodi pled guilty to four felony child abuse charges each and will serve as little as four years in prison to a maximum of thirty years.  (Redditors have compiled the evidence here.)

If you haven't followed this case, the "eight" passengers were the two parents and their six children. Ruby's tactics were questioned at the time, and CPS were contacted, but no legal action was taken. Ruby refused to bring lunch to school for her five-year-old daughter who'd forgotten it, and forced a teen to sleep on a bean bag chair in the living room for eight months after pulling a prank on his younger brother.  

Over the years, Ruby fell under the spell of Jodi Hildebrandt, a Mormon therapist who was recommended to her, originally to help with the oldest boy.  As Hildebrandt had done to other couples, she drove a wedge between husband and wife, and the husband, Kevin Franke, moved out in 2022, ostensibly to save their marriage.  He joined a men's support group organized by Hildebrandt, and believed he was a sex addict.  He had no contact with Ruby or any of their children for a year.

In 2023, Ruby and the the younger boy, "R," and the youngest daughter, "E," moved to the 10,000 square foot home of Jodi Hildebrandt. Ruby joined Jodi's company, "Connexions," and they made videos together, sharing their religiously based, cultish advice on how to inculcate "truth" in children and banish "distortion."  Meanwhile, the two children endured horrible mistreatment under the guise of getting right with God, including going up and down stairs carrying heavy boxes, weeding a cemetery for hours in the desert heat (without permission of the cemetery owner!), doing manual labor outdoors at Hildebrandt's home, being forced to stand outdoors in the sun, being forced to sleep outdoors or being confined in a closet, being denied food and water, and Ruby played mental games that gave them little hope of meeting their mother's approval.  According to Ruby's journal, the two children knew that what she was doing was wrong, and they rebelled against her.  She kicked and beat R with a cactus and forced "E" to hug a cactus. "R" escaped one night and Ruby found him walking on a road, then bound him to her to prevent him from escaping again.

Apparently, she ramped up the bondage, because when "R" escaped again, he had wounds from being bound at the wrists and ankles.  He sneaked out a window and went to a neighbor's house asking to be taken to a police station, possibly because his mother asked him if being in jail would be better than being with her. The neighbor called 911, and police found an emaciated boy with wounds on his body in addition to the rope wounds -- which had been "treated" with honey and cayenne pepper.  He told them about his younger sister, and police immediately went to find her.  She refused to stand up or speak for four hours!  She only reluctantly ate pizza they offered her... and then ate the whole thing. 

This week, authorities released evidence including Ring doorbell footage, body camera video, police interviews, photos of the boy's injuries, and heavily redacted scans of Ruby's diary. It's far worse than it seemed when the situation came to public attention last year!

The Hidden True Crime YouTube channel has uploaded individual audio and video files, which are chilling.  That channel's focus is on the psychology of crime, not religion, but it's worth following because many of the cases they study involve religion and/or cults.  They have a playlist devoted to this case so you can catch up if you were not aware of this criminal case.

Key takeaways:

Demonic possession and evil children: Jodi read Bible verses about children rising up against their parents ... and who could blame the Franke children for doing that!  Ruby wrote in her diary about the children being evil and accused them of being influenced by Satan.  This is probably the most vile thing about the Abrahamic tradition.  Children are presumed to be in a state of sin, and abuse is the remedy.

Shame and guilt:   The two children believed they deserved their punishment abuse because they were evil and could  not be around other people.  The little girl refused to leave her closet/prison cell for four hours!  

Sadism:  Ruby seemed to have a very sadistic streak, which would have made her a bad parent in any case, but she was able to justify what she did through religious teaching and her own revelations.

Religious Therapy:  If someone advises you to seek spiritual counseling or a clergy member offers to make a referral for you, RUN!  If someone is already religious and has serious problems, applying that same religion is throwing good money after bad.

The Aftermath Foundation: An Update

Shortly after my previous post about the Aftermath Foundation, they announced new board members, and people working on the short-lived billboard project have spoken out.

The new board members include British apostate Jon Atack, who left Scientology in 1983 and wrote one of the must-reads about Scientology, A Piece of Blue Sky and interviews people on his YouTube channel, "jon atack, family and friends," Phil Jones, whose self-funded "Call Me" billboard campaign, inspired this year's billboard, and Stefani Hutchinson a "never-in," (a term coined by YouTube commentators when the SPTV movement gained momentum), who has been actively fighting Scientology online since 2017, according to her profile.  You can read her blog posts here.

You can learn more about Phil in an interview with Mark Fisher and Janis Gillham-Grady on their Scientology - Peeling the Onion channel. He is 70 years old and hasn't given up hope that he'll reunite with his two children one day. After this week's billboard take-down, he was interviewed by journalist Tony Ortega on his Underground Bunker podcast.

Phil Jones on Peeling the Onion:

Phil Jones on Tony Ortega's podcast (on YouTube):

The Aftermath Foundation: Ex-Scientologists Setting an Example for other Ex-Cultists

A few ex-scientologists who were featured on Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath have set up a foundation to raise funds for the work they were already doing to help Sea Organization members (the equivalent of priests and monks) to escape the cult.  For those in the main facilities, life is extremely circumscribed:  they have no access to the internet or libraries, many have no high school diplomas (or have even gone to high school), they live and eat communally, and they are paid a very tiny stipend as "religious volunteers."  They have almost no ability to live on the outside.  Most don't even have driver's licenses, and their passports are held by their organization.  Many younger members are the children of Sea Org members and so have no contacts on the outside, and they have been forced to "disconnect" (shun or cease all contact) with anybody who has left or spoken against the organization.

To complicate things, those at the secretive compound near Hemet, California, are kept behind locked gates and fences topped with razor wire, and they risk being chased down and retrieved if they leave without permission ("blow").   One of the stories featured in the Aftermath series described the  harrowing escapes of Mark Headley and his wife Claire.  (Headley expands on this in his book, Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology).

Many ex-members worked under the radar for years helping people with the practicalities of starting a new life from scratch:  escaping, taking a bus or plane to a safe space with family or an ex-member, getting a social security card, driver's license, passport, GED, job, and eventually an apartment.  Their network was informal, much like the networks that helped Jews escape Nazis or enslaved American Blacks escape to freedom.  It's difficult, scary, and expensive work, all paid out of pocket.

The Aftermath Foundation formalized the work in 2017, naming the new organization after the TV series. The main focus is raising money for the many expenses incurred when people leave.  Their website has a link for people to apply for aid, expanding the reach of the group beyond the friends-network that's been operating since the 1960s.  They also maintain a database of people willing to help.  Can you pick people up from the airport?  Give someone a job?  Leave Aftermath Foundation cards at a Scientology facility? Offer someone a place to stay?  Let them know!

Their latest effort was quashed by Scientology within three days!  They collaborated with a distraught father who has been trying for years to contact his children to post contact information on a billboard within sight of the Hollywood building where members and potential members could see it.  Clear Channel Communications, owner of the billboard, removed the billboard after being pressured by Scientology.  Their official statement on Facebook reads in part: 

In December 2023, we approached former Scientologist Phil Jones because of his successful 2016 Call Me billboard campaign that exposed Scientology’s destructive practice of “disconnection”, which tears families apart. Disconnection is the forced separation of a current Scientologist from anyone (including immediate family) who has been declared an enemy of Scientology.

Phil and his wife, Willie, suffered through disconnection when their adult children, Mike and Emily Jones, refused to communicate with them in any way after being ordered to cut off all contact by Scientology. Phil Jones joined the board of The Aftermath Foundation in March 2024.

We located the perfect billboard site close to and visible from Scientology’s buildings in Los Angeles and signed a one-year contract with Clear Channel Outdoor, including the First Right of Refusal at the end of the contract term. We developed a simple billboard design with our message and established a toll-free 24/7 helpline: 888-FREE-002.

The billboard was installed on March 11, 2024 at 9:00 AM.

Initially, Clear Channel Outdoor was very supportive of our campaign. The manager told us that their office staff thought we were doing a great thing.

By 10:00 AM, Scientology had erected a cherry picker in front of the billboard, intending to block our toll-free helpline from the view of their members. By that afternoon, they had also erected a scissor lift.

The next day, March 12, we were contacted by our Clear Channel Outdoor account representative, who told us they were under extreme pressure to remove the billboard and relocate it because Scientology claimed the message was “controversial”.

Today, Clear Channel Outdoor removed the billboard. We learned of this news when a supporter sent us a photo; we did not receive a notification from Clear Channel Outdoor in advance.

The Foundation's "Survivor Stories" page shows the lengths they are willing to go to help others.  One touching story was turned into a film and shared on several YouTube channels.  Serge Obelenskey was ejected from Scientology after an accident destroyed his hands.  With nowhere to go, he become a beggar on Hollywood streets known as "No-Hands Man" until a social worker and the Aftermath Foundation helped him move forward with his life.

Warren Jeffs's imprisoned Mormons and the Amish who want a life on the outside need help just as much as Scientology's slave laborers. I hope they're able to find that help.

Happy Birthday, L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard, (all informational links in the post go to Wikipedia pages unless otherwise specified) founder of the "church" of Scientology, would be 113 today.  Scientology has a few annual celebrations, and the anniversary of the birth of "LRH" is one of them.  (This is a bit odd, because Scientology believes in past lives and the eternal nature of the spirit, or "thetan," so every day is probably at least one birthday for him.)  Hubbard died, or "dropped his body" in 1986, and may or may not be spreading the good news of Scientology on another planet, a.k.a. "Target Two." But anyway, Happy Birthday L. Ron!  May the next year bring an end to the abusive cult you created.