Parenting advice YouTuber Ruby Franke arrested on suspicion of child abuse in Utah

Published

9 months ago

September 1, 2023

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A former YouTuber who gave online parenting advice has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated child abuse after two of her children were found to be malnourished.

Ruby Franke, whose now defunct 8 Passengers channel followed her family, was arrested on Wednesday in Utah and taken into custody.

Franke’s 12-year-old son had climbed out of a window in the city of Ivins and ran to a neighbour’s house on Wednesday morning before asking for food and water, according to an affidavit filed by an officer with the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department.

According to the document, the neighbour saw duct tape on the boy’s ankles and wrists and called law enforcement.

The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was put on a medical hold “due to his deep lacerations from being tied up with rope and from his malnourishment,” arrest records show.

Franke’s 10-year-old daughter was later found malnourished and was also taken to the hospital, officers said. Two other of Franke’s children were in the custody of child protection services, the affidavit said.

Franke was arrested alongside her business partner and collaborator, Jodi Hildebrandt, who is the founder of the controversial life counselling organisation ConneXions Classroom. The two women create advice videos that critics say promote a harsh style of parenting.

On Thursday, a judge denied Franke bail after a detective cited “the severity of the injuries of her two kids located in the home,” and told the judge the Department of Child and Family Services had taken four of Franke’s children into custody with the officer yet to speak to two of them.

Who is Ruby Franke?

Franke and her husband launched their family YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, in early 2015. The channel chronicled the lives of the parents and their six children and had nearly 2.3 million subscribers.

As many family channels on YouTube do, 8 Passengers focused on parenting style, the children’s upbringing and discipline as the kids grew up in Utah. The parents, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (known as the Mormon Church), also shared their children’s home schooling.

Although the Frankes grew a sizable following, the family became the subject of harsh criticisms in recent years.

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PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray dies aged 30

Published

5 hours ago

May 25, 2024

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PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray dies aged 30

Professional golfer Grayson Murray has died aged 30, the PGA Tour has said.

The American, a two-time tour winner who was number 58 in the world ranking, withdrew late in his second round at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, citing an illness.

“We were devastated to learn – and are heartbroken to share – that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray passed away this morning. I am at a loss for words,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

“The PGA Tour is a family, and when you lose a member of your family, you are never the same. We mourn Grayson and pray for comfort for his loved ones.”

Mr Monahan said he had spoken to Murray’s parents to offer his condolences and they asked that the tournament continue.

“They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so,” he said. “As difficult as it will be, we want to respect their wishes.”

Murray, who had dealt with alcohol and mental issues in the past, made a massive turnaround this year and to win the Sony Open at Honolulu in January, ending a six-year winless drought.

“Yeah, my parents have been through, you know, hell and back basically for the last six years with me fighting some mental stuff,” Murray said at the time.

“It’s not easy on me, and the people around me that love me, they don’t like to see me down. They’ve been my number one supporters.

“There’s a few friends as well that have been there and it makes these moments a lot more special.”

Murray won his first PGA Tour title, the Barbasol Championship, in 2017.

His management company, GSE Worldwide, said in a statement: “We will hold off on commenting until we learn further details, but our heart aches for his family, his friends and all who loved him during this very difficult time.”

Murray, from Raleigh, in North Carolina, was a three-time winner of the Callaway Junior Championships and played in the US Open for the first time in 2013 as an amateur.

His best result in a major was a tie for 22nd at the 2017 PGA Championship.

US

Uvalde school shooting: Families of victims sue Meta, Call Of Duty makers and gun company

Published

17 hours ago

May 25, 2024

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Uvalde school shooting: Families of victims sue Meta, Call Of Duty makers and gun company

The families of some of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting have announced new legal action against three companies they say effectively helped to “train” the gunman to carry out the attack.

Legal action against Instagram parent company Meta Platforms, the maker of the video game series Call Of Duty and the company that made the gun used in the May 2022 shooting was announced on the two-year anniversary of the attack in Texas in the US.

Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on 24 May 2022.

The new legal cases accuse the companies of partnering to promote and create content designed to glorify combat, gun violence and killing.

Josh Koskoff, a lawyer for the families, called the companies a “three-headed monster” that “knowingly exposed [the gunman] to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it”.

“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” Mr Koskoff said.

According to the lawsuits, Ramos had played versions of Call Of Duty since he was 15, including one that allowed him to effectively practise with the version of the rifle he used at the school.

It claimed the company created a “hyperrealistic” game where “although the killing is virtual, the weapons are authentic – they are designed to perfectly imitate their real-life counterparts in look, feel, recoil and accuracy”.

The legal action claims Instagram does little to enforce rules that ban marketing firearms and harmful content to children.

It also accuses gunmakers Daniel Defense of using the social media platform to help “extol the illegal, murderous use of its weapons”.

Some of the same families also filed a $500m (£392m) lawsuit against Texas state police officials and officers who responded to the shooting but waited more than an hour to confront Ramos inside the classroom as students and teachers lay dead, dying or wounded.

‘Baseless accusations’

Call Of Duty makers, Activision, called the shooting “horrendous and heartbreaking in every way”.

The company added its “deepest sympathies” for the “families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence”.

But it added: “Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts.”

The Entertainment Software Association – a video game industry trade group – also said it was “outraged by senseless acts of violence” but pushed back on blaming games for violence, arguing research has found no link.

“We discourage baseless accusations linking these tragedies to video gameplay, which detract from efforts to focus on the root issues in question and safeguard against future tragedies,” the group said.

Daniel Defense and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

This is not the first legal action to be brought over the shooting.

In December 2022, a group of different plaintiffs filed a separate lawsuit against local and state police, the city, and other school and law enforcement, which seeks at least $27bn (£21bn) and class-action status for survivors.

At least two other lawsuits have also been filed against Daniel Defense.

To mark the two-year anniversary of the shooting, community members in Uvalde planned a vigil for those killed.

In a letter, President Joe Biden said: “As we mark this solemn day, may we pray for those we lost, their loved ones, and all those who were wounded.”

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Judge rejects Alec Baldwin’s request to dismiss charge over Rust shooting

Published

1 day ago

May 24, 2024

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Judge rejects Alec Baldwin's request to dismiss charge over Rust shooting

A judge has rejected a request by Alec Baldwin to dismiss his criminal charge relating to the fatal shooting on the set of Rust.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer upheld an indictment charging Baldwin with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, in 2021.

The New Mexico judge rejected defence arguments that prosecutors flouted the rules of grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.

Prosecutors denied the accusations and said Baldwin made “shameless” attempts to escape culpability, highlighting contradictions in his statements to law enforcement, to workplace safety regulators, and in a television interview.

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.

His lawyers said after Friday’s judgement: “We look forward to our day in court.”

The 66-year-old’s trial has been scheduled to start in July.

During a rehearsal on the set of the Western film, Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.

The actor has maintained that he pulled back the gun’s hammer but not the trigger.