Neighbour’s chilling 911 call that led to YouTube star’s arrest

A neighbour’s chilling emergency call after a Youtuber’s child showed up at his house “covered in wounds” has been released.

Mummy blogger Ruby Franke was arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse. Picture: Instagram

The chilling 911 call that led to the arrest of YouTuber Ruby Franke and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, on charges of aggravated child abuse has been released.

In audio obtained by Fox News, Franke’s neighbour phoned police at 10:50pm on August 30 after a frightened boy arrived on his doorstep in Santa Clara, Utah, Page Six reports.

“I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help, and he said he just came from a neighbour’s house, and we know there’s been problems at this neighbour’s house,” the man told an emergency dispatcher.

“He’s emaciated. He’s got tape around his legs. He’s hungry, and he’s thirsty,” the concerned man said, later adding that the boy “asked us to call the police” and that the child was “very afraid.”

“I don’t think he needs an ambulance. I’ll let the cops decide that, but his ankles are taped up, and he won’t tell us why. … There’s sores around him.”

“This kid has obviously been … he’s been detained. He’s obviously covered in wounds,” the neighbour said after choking up in tears.

“He says what happened to him was his fault.”

Ruby Franke was charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse. Picture: Instagram

The child later identified his mother as Franke, revealing that he had come from Hildebrandt’s home and that neither of his parents were nearby.

The child also confirmed that other children were in Hildebrandt’s home but that they were not tied up.

Franke shares four minor children — Abby, 16, Julie, 14, Russell, 12, and Eve, 9 — with husband Kevin Franke. They also share children Shari, 20, and Chad, 18.

At one point during the call, the neighbour expressed that he was concerned Hildebrandt would “come looking” for the child, who had allegedly escaped through a window in her home.

The neighbour then insisted that they need the police there “as soon as possible.”

“She’s a bad lady, we didn’t realise how bad,” the man said of Hildebrandt.

Following the call, Santa Clara Police arrived on the scene and would later arrest Ruby and Hildebrandt.

The two business partners, who ran a now-deleted YouTube channel “8 Passengers” on parenting, were charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse.

Ruby and Kevin Franke have six children, four of which are minors. Picture: YouTube

In the state of Utah, a felony count of child abuse is defined as harm such as starvation, broken bones, head injuries from hitting or shaking and suffocation.

A press release from the Washington County Attorney’s Office stated that “each defendant is accused of causing or permitting serious physical injury to the victims in three different ways: (1) a combination of multiple physical injuries or torture, (2) starvation or malnutrition that jeopardizes life, and (3) causing severe emotional harm.”

Speaking through his lawyer, Mr Franke has denied any role in the abuse.

The momfluencer and her ConneXions co-founder made their first courtroom appearances on Friday, local time, in which the judge ruled that she and Hildebrandt remain in jail with no option for bail.

Franke also claimed during a hearing via video Thursday that one of her minor children had molested “several” family members and neighbours for “years” and that the child had abused one of their siblings.

The disgraced YouTube vlogger also claimed that the child began watching pornography at 3 years old.

These claims were not substantiated, but the judge later ruled that the child in question should “be placed in a home with no other children.”

The Youtuber was denied an opportunity for bail at a hearing this week. Picture: YouTube

Franke’s sibling Bonnie Hoellein spoke out after the arrest, sharing in a video posted to YouTube that the family did “as much as [they] could” to protect the children.

Neighbours of the Franke family also revealed that they had attempted to elicit help for the children a year prior to the arrest.

A female neighbour, who spoke anonymously to NBC News, told the outlet that she had warned Utah’s Division of Child and Family Services, which led to a wellness check on Franke’s home.

However, the neighbour recalled that no one answered the door when the wellness check was performed.

“I’m really angry, because I spoke up. Other people spoke up. And nothing happened,” the woman shared.

“If people knew the amount of tears and time spent talking with law enforcement and CPS over the last year — I want people to understand that. And I want those kids to know that, because I think they thought they were abandoned.”

Another neighbour told the outlet that “everyone” believed Franke’s four minor children “were going to come out of that house with body bags” when police arrived at the scene on August 30.

Franke and Hildebrandt’s next bond hearings are set for Septempter 21.

This article originally appeared on Page Six and was reproduced with permission