Newly released video shows the moment police searching for the children of Utah YouTuber Rube Franke raided his mansion — and then found two of the children at the home of a woman who worked at his counseling service.
Franke — a “momfluencer” who runs the now-banned YouTube channel “8 Passenger” — and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested on Aug. 30 after one of her children ran away from her home emaciated and with duct tape on her. leg part.
Both women were originally charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse, but four additional counts of child abuse were added a week later.
On the day of Franke’s arrest, her children were found hundreds of miles apart, according to KUTV.
After the runaway boy went to a neighbor’s house to call 911, police began searching for Franke’s two other young children.
At first, police in Springville thought they might be at his home, but when they served a warrant, it was unoccupied, so they began looking elsewhere.
They eventually arrived at the home of Pam Bodtcher, an employee of ConneXions — the counseling service Franke ran with Hidebrandt — and found the two children, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Body cam video obtained by KUTV shows a roughly 90-minute exchange between American Fork police, Bodtcher, her husband and children.
“I don’t know what this is all about,” Bodtcher told officers when her husband asked if they had a warrant, which they confirmed.
One officer remained in the doorway with the husband and a girl while another officer spoke to Bodtcher in his vehicle, where he sat in handcuffs.
Bodycam footage shows police raiding disgraced parenting blogger Ruby Franke’s Utah home. Springville Police Department
The first officer asked the child if he had shoes because he was only wearing socks.
“It’s just a simple question … you don’t have to look at grandpa to know if you have shoes or not,” police told the girl when Bodtcher’s husband explained that he wasn’t grandpa.
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In another conversation, a policeman told Bodtcher that the St. George and Springville had told them to go into his house, find Franke’s girl and hold the employee until “questions are answered.”
“She comes to my house all the time,” the woman said of the girl.
“I reject what you say. I reject what they say,” replied the official. “I don’t know what the truth is. I know he’s here. I don’t know if he came willingly or not.”
Bodtcher eventually said that Franke had called her to say there was a “family emergency” and asked her to pick up her two daughters.
“They are my friends’ daughters,” he said, adding that he had been close with Franke for about three years.
An officer asked the husband to move out of the house while other police waited with the girl inside, but the man initially refused.
“What are you afraid of?” the officer asked him.
“Number one, I don’t know what happened,” replied the husband.
“Number two, I don’t want Springville [police] to drive and you take him away without giving any information or anything.
“Number three, her mom isn’t here right now, and I feel like I’m trying to protect her from having a bad situation.”
He went on to say: “I’m not going crazy, I don’t have any weapons, I don’t have anything. I just had surgery on this ankle. I just feel a certain responsibility to him and his mother to protect him as best I can.”
Another policeman asked the girl why she looked scared.
“Do you go to school or do you prefer not to talk?” the officer asked him, but he remained silent.
After about 45 minutes, the older sister whispered something in his ear, prompting an officer to warn them not to run away.
Shortly thereafter, a worker with the Utah Division of Children and Family Services arrived at the home.
“If you’re going to talk to them, talk to them separately. I think he might be training her,” an officer told staff, referring to the younger sister.
Bodtcher was held for nearly 50 minutes before Springville officers arrived to gather more information, according to the recording. Both children were taken into national custody and later released to family members.
Pam Bodtcher, a ConneXions employee, was arrested by police, who found Franke’s two children at her home. American Fork Police Department
Legal experts are questioning the procedures followed during the woman’s arrest, where she was questioned for about 50 minutes without being read her Miranda Rights
Criminal defense attorney Skye Lazaro, who was not involved in the case, criticized police for not informing Bodtcher of his rights in time.
“It is important for people to know their constitutional rights before being questioned by the police,” Lazaro told KUTV. “They have the right to remain silent and the right to get a lawyer. In this case, it raises concerns from a legal point of view.”
Police have acknowledged that there was never an arrest warrant for Bodtcher, who later told the girls to gather their belongings because they were leaving with DCFS staff to stay with Shari Franke, their older sister.
Shari, who attends Brigham Young University, cut ties with her family last year, after her mother began working with Hildebrandt, she reportedly said on the podcast.
“There are no words to describe how upside down my life is,” Shari wrote on Instagram, according to Fox News.
“I used to cry, have endless panic attacks, have too much ice cream, but life goes on. Therapy has really saved me, but God has also saved me. My life somehow became more beautiful and fulfilling, despite all the bad things that happened,” Shari wrote.
He added that he had been trying to live “life to the fullest these past few weeks” despite wanting to “hide.”
“Tomorrow is another big court day, and I would appreciate your prayers and thoughts for my family and myself,” he wrote. “Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for you all, and I feel your love.”
The Franke sisters released a joint statement saying they were doing everything they could to protect their nieces and nephews “behind the scenes” and that the arrest “had to happen.”
Franke shares four young children with husband Kevin Franke: Abby, 16, Julie, 14, Russell, 12, and Eve, 9. The couple also shares Shari, 20, and Chad, 18.
Through a lawyer, Franke’s husband has denied involvement in the abuse.
Franke in court accused one of his own children of sexually abusing the siblings for years.
YouTube has deleted his account and banned him from the platform.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
