265
Arrest and charges
On August 30, 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in Ivins, Utah, and on September 1, 2023, both were charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse, a felony.[1][2][5][6][13][14] According to a statement from the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, Franke's 12-year-old son, who appeared emaciated and had "open wounds and duct tape around the extremities", had climbed through a window of Hildebrandt's house and asked at a neighboring house for food and water.[1][2][5][13] Emergency services found Franke's 10-year-old daughter in the house, also malnourished; both children were taken to a hospital, where the boy was treated for severe malnourishment and "deep lacerations from being tied up with rope".[1][6] A search of the house found evidence "consistent with the markings" on the 12-year-old, and the Utah Division of Child and Family Services took the boy and girl and two more of Franke's children into care.[1][2] Police later reported that according to the boy, cayenne pepper and honey had been used to dress his wounds.[11][15]
Personal life
The Frankes are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[4][5] Their oldest daughter has stated that she has long disapproved of her mother's parenting strategies.[2][5]
Franke has three sisters who are also parenting influencers;[2][4][5] they disassociated themselves from her actions in a joint statement[2][5][12] and later in individual videos.[25]