Ruby Franke’s Husband Kevin ‘Regrets’ Vlogging Family, Supports Bill to Protect Child Influencers

While testifying before the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee in Utah earlier this week, the father of six voiced his support for a bill that protects children who appear in their parents’ content on social media, with Kevin expressing his “regret” over allowing his kids to appear in his Ruby’s parenting vlog after it ultimately destroyed his family.

“Vlogging my family, putting my children into public social media, was wrong, and I regret it every day,” he told Utah lawmakers at a Provo courthouse on Tuesday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

“Children cannot give informed consent to be filmed on social media, period,” he added. “If we, as adults, cannot understand the emotional and psychological impacts of sharing our lives to millions of strangers online, how can we expect our children to understand them?”

The bill, titled HB322, would create new regulations and protections for minors and child actors who appear in online content. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the bill “would require creators who make more than $150,000 a year from online content featuring children to set aside 15% of it into a trust fund that the children can access when they turn 18.” In addition, HB322 would give the minors of their influencer parents the right to ask for the content — in which they appeared as a child — to be taken down when they become adults.

The outlet said Kevin described the bill as “a great first step towards protecting child influencers here in the state of Utah, and there is much more to do in the future.”

“I have my own story and journey to share when I’m ready, but obviously now is neither the time nor the place to do that,” he added.

Ruby’s family vlogging journey dates back to 2015 when she created the YouTube channel, 8Passengers, which followed her and Kevin’s life at home with their six children, along with Ruby giving controversial parenting advice. 8Passengers was ultimately deleted in 2022, and she and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, launched a new channel, ConneXions.

Both Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023 on child abuse charges relating to Franke’s children, after the Frankes’ then-12-year-old son Russell climbed out of a window from Hildebrandt’s home and showed up to a neighbor’s “emaciated and malnourished.”

In February 2024, Ruby and Hildebrandt were sentenced to four to 60 years each in prison.

Kevin, meanwhile, was not arrested or charged. At the time of Ruby’s arrest, Kevin and his wife had been living separately for a year. He filed for divorce in November 2023.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Kevin also read statements from two of his young daughters, who are 16 and 11, prefacing that the judge “agreed that these statements could and should be read to this committee.”

The 16-year-old daughter shared in her statement that if the bill had existed when her family’s life was online, Ruby “would not have been able to withdraw all of my savings I had from doing YouTube.”

“This bill will prevent other kids from having to go through the pain of realizing that the compensation for years worth of time and effort is suddenly gone,” she continued, before noting her support for how children can ask for the content that featured footage of them as minors to be removed when they’re adults.

“As kids, you don’t realize what you’re subjected to, really,” the 16-year-old added. “You’re selling your life, your privacy, your body and stories to the entire world. And as a child, you’re involuntarily giving up all of that. You’re selling your childhood. Though there is no amount of money that can make up for that loss, the least that can be done now is making sure the child is getting paid for her work and has the right to remove it and walk away if she wants to.”

As for the 11-year-old Franke daughter, she said in her statement that she hopes the new legislation can “keep the children more safe,” noting she and her siblings know “more than anyone” about “the horrible situation that a lot of kids are in right now.”

The child looked back at her experience being featured in her mom’s vlogs.

“I thought nothing was wrong. I felt ‘happy,’ but I really wasn’t,” the 11-year-old said in her statement. “When I started getting older, I realized the YouTube channel had ruined my childhood. But at least I got some money, right? Oh, right, I actually didn’t because my mom withdrew all of it in 2023. I worked hard for that money. I acted like someone I wasn’t in front of the camera, and I earned that money. But I feel like my mom used me for money.”

She went on to stress that Kevin did not ask her to issue her statement, but she decided to speak out on her own.

“If anyone is using their kids, it’s the YouTubers filming them for money,” the 11-year-old said.

“I know I am stuck with the trauma of YouTube,” she added. “Even now, I can barely make friends, because my whole life I was the center of the attention. But now, without even realizing it, I seek attention from others, or I feel like they don’t like me. Then those people think I’m mean.”

Kevin’s appearance in court comes just days ahead of the release of Hulu’s three-part docuseries, Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.

It will mark the first time Kevin — along with the two eldest Franke children Shari and Chad —  will share their story in depth on camera.

The logline for the series reads: “When ‘momfluencer’ Ruby Franke is arrested for child abuse, no one can understand how her seemingly happy family became trapped in a nightmare. Her husband and eldest children share the inside story of the scandal that tore apart their family.”

Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke premieres on February 21 on Hulu.

If you are experiencing or witness 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. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.