Watch: Ruby Franke's Ex Kevin Franke Remarries After Child Abuse ScandalContent warning: This story discusses child abuse. Ruby Franke's children were not Jodi Hildebrandt's first victims, according to Jodi's relative. More than a decade before Ruby and Jodi were arrested in 2023-with both later pleading guilty to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse-Jodi's niece Jessi Hildebrandt accused the former therapist of abuse. Netflix's new documentary Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story reveals that Jessi contacted police to make allegations against Jodi while living with her in American Fork, Utah, in 2009. "I was left in her care when I was a teenager for a little under a year," Jessi said in a 2023 KUTV interview shown in the documentary. "I experienced being tied, I experienced being duct taped, I was forced to sleep outside in the snow." "I experienced severe isolation, being told I shouldn't be around other people, being told that I was dangerous to be around," they continued. "I was never allowed to have the door closed because she was convinced that I was constantly masturbating. She was convinced that I was addicted to porn. I had no idea what these things were, but I just believed her because she used religion and God as a mode of control."readRuby Franke's Son Chad Franke Marries Kam AndersonAccording to Jessi, Jodi "wanted to make my life so uncomfortable that it would force the sin out," with Jessi explaining that they would "confess to things that I didn't do as a way of trying to get the abuse to stop." Jessi went to the police, but the case was closed in March 2010, according to records shown in Evil Influencer.

InstagramIn 2023, American Fork Police Chief Cameron Paul spoke to KSL after reviewing department records, noting he didn't find any documentation that a previous report was sent to DCFS as planned. "I'm going to own it. If we didn't send it, we didn't send it," he told the outlet. "And so, there's a small possibility we did, but again, I have no record of it, and we've looked at some other lists that should have something and I don't see it. So, I'm thinking that it never got disseminated to DCFS." Cameron went on to note that the officers involved are no longer with the department. "I think we could have dug a little bit more into what was going on, and perhaps the officer did that and it's just not documented well in the report and that detail is not there," he said at the time. "But whether it's through the report or the actions of the officer, yes, I do wish we would have taken the time to dive in a little bit further into the case." Jessi noted in the doc that they tried to do what they "could.""And no one believed me. Because why would they?" Jessi said. "She destroyed my credibility. I was an angry teenager." Ruby and Jodi-who were business partners for a life coaching service called ConneXions-were arrested in August 2023 after Ruby's son escaped from Jodi's home and ran to a neighbor's house to call for help. At the time, he was malnourished with duct tape on his wrists and ankles, according to police, who later found his sister malnourished in Jodi's house. Jessi said the arrest wasn't surprising. "We knew that Jodi does this. We knew 14, almost 15 years ago, that she's already done this to me, and people saw and people witnessed and did nothing," Jessi told ABC News in 2023. "Just because you reframe it as 'tough love,' or 'tough parenting,' that's not love. That is abuse." At the sentencing hearing in February 2024, Ruby-who started vlogging in 2015 with her then-husband Kevin Franke and six kids on the 8 Passengers YouTube channel-explained her actions by saying that she had been "led to believe this world was an evil place." "For the past four years, I've chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me to a dark delusion," Ruby said in court, per footage shown in the documentary. "My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked, as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me." Ruby and Jodi are serving four to 30 years in prison, with their time behind bars being determined by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. InstagramE! News has reached out to Jodi's lawyer for comment on Jessi's allegations but hasn't heard back. Read on for a closer look at the case against Ruby and Jodi.

InstagramAug. 30, 2023: Children Found MalnourishedUtah police received a call about a starved child being found, they shared in a press release. The minor-who appeared "emaciated and malnourished" with "open wounds and duct tape around the extremities"-was taken to the hospital in "severe" condition. He was later identified as YouTuber Ruby Franke's 12-year-old son, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by NBC News. He had been at the home of Ruby's business partner Jodi Hildebrant and had climbed out of a window before going to a neighbor's house to ask for help, per the document. Police then searched a nearby home, where another child was found