Ruby Franke made a series of disturbing jailhouse calls to estranged husband Kevin Franke after being arrested on multiple charges of child abuse.
On Friday, Utah prosecutors released several of the calls between the parents of six, one of which Ruby could be heard blaming the devil for her actions.
“Satan has taken everything away from me that I love,” the “8 Passengers” creator said during a Sept. 1 call. “And I’m a good woman. I don’t do naughty things. I don’t do naughty things. I’m a really good girl.”
Kevin, who has since filed for divorce, then told her he was going to “do everything that [he] can to keep truth in our family.”
“I am committed to our family,” he said. “I am committed to you and our marriage no matter what happens. I will be here to support you in any way that I can.”
Elsewhere in the call, the disgraced YouTuber said she felt “completely misunderstood” and compared herself to Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.
Ruby also told Kevin, who claimed he played no role in the abuse, that he could “have the house” in order to get their kids back.
Just two days prior, the former couple’s youngest son escaped from the home where he and his younger sister were being held captive by Ruby and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt.
Newly released video from his escape show the 12-year-old running to their neighbors’ house asking if they would do him a “favor” and call the police.
The boy — referred to in court documents as RF — had duct tape around his wrists and ankles, was covered in sores and desrcibed as looking malnourished.
After the police arrived, both Ruby and Hildebrandt were brought into custody under suspicion of multiple counts of aggravated child abuse.
The day after her arrest, Franke made another call to Kevin, asking if she was “in the news” and claimed the investigation was a “witch hunt” — despite later pleading guilty to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse.
“The devil has been after me for years,” she said.
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When told her children were going to be in the hospital for “three days,” Ruby seemed confused rather than concerned.
“It’s so weird its just not necessary,” she said. “They are trying to exaggerate this.”
In a phone call from the same day, Ruby claimed that “adults have a really hard time understanding that children can be full of evil, and what that takes to fight it.”
In the case summary released Friday by the Washington County Attorney’s Office, prosecutors explained that “religious extremism” motivated Ruby and Hildebrandt to inflict such “horrific abuse” on the children.
The two kids were starved, beaten, forced to work long hours in the heat without shoes or water and punished with physical tasks.
Ruby detailed the daily abuse in a handwritten journal, revealing she once held her son underwater while covering his nose.
The former YouTube star was sentenced to serve up to 60 years in prison for the horrific abuse last month. Hildebrandt received the same sentence.
However, Utah law states that imprisonment terms must not exceed more than 30 years when consecutive sentences are issued — meaning the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide how long she stays behind bars.
Four of Franke’s children remain in the care of the Department of Child and Family Services. However, Kevin is in the process of trying to win them back.
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