Utah: A Utah mother whose harsh parenting advice made her a YouTube influencer has been sentenced to at least four years in prison for child abuse.
Ruby Franke, 42, tearfully apologised in court as she learned her fate. She previously pleaded guilty to starving and abusing her children.
She appeared along with her former business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, 54, who received an identical sentence.
The judge sentenced them to serve four terms of one to 15 years each.
The sentences will run consecutively and are the maximum for each count under Utah law. How much time each will ultimately serve will be determined by the state’s parole board.
Franke will have 30 days to appeal the decision.
In court, Utah prosecutor Eric Clarke said that two of Franke’s children, aged nine and 11 at the time, lived in a “concentration camp-like setting” and called her a significant threat to the community.
“The children were regularly denied food, water, beds to sleep in, and virtually all forms of entertainment,” Mr Clarke said.
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