section_path: Arrest and charges
section_name: Arrest and charges
paragraph_text: Arrest and charges
  
  On August 30, 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in Ivins, Utah, and two days later, both were charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse, a felony. According to a statement from the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, the arrests were triggered after Franke's twelve-year-old son, who appeared emaciated and had "open wounds and duct tape around the extremities", had escaped through a window of Hildebrandt's house and asked at a neighboring house for food and water. Emergency services found Franke's ten-year-old daughter in the house, also malnourished; both children were taken to a hospital, where the boy was treated for severe malnourishment and "deep lacerations from being tied up with rope". A search of the house found evidence "consistent with the markings" on the twelve-year-old, and the Utah Division of Child and Family Services took the boy and girl and two more of Franke's children into care. Police later reported that according to the boy, cayenne pepper and honey had been used to dress his wounds.
  
  Franke and Hildebrandt were held without bail. Hildebrandt surrendered her license as a counselor pending resolution of the court case and a disciplinary investigation. After her arrest, YouTube suspended Franke from the platform, also suspending two channels that were linked to her.
  
  On December 18, 2023, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. She later pleaded not guilty to two other counts. The factual basis mentioned an incident of Franke forcing her son to work outdoors over several weeks with inadequate protection, resulting in severe sunburns, and claims that the children were possessed. Franke agreed to serve a prison sentence and to serve her respective sentences consecutively rather than concurrently. Franke was expected to testify against Hildebrandt in Hildebrandt's upcoming trial, but Hildebrandt separately pleaded guilty to four counts of felony aggravated child abuse on December 27, with two charges dropped as part of another plea deal. On February 20, 2024, Franke received four consecutive sentences of between one and fifteen years' imprisonment, meaning she must serve a minimum term of four years. Although the maximum term that could be imposed for all sentences would be 60 years, the Utah Code dictates that the time served by a defendant upon whom consecutive sentences are imposed must not exceed 30 years, except in circumstances of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Under Utah's indeterminate sentencing scheme, her exact term will be determined by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
  
  On August 30, 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in Ivins, Utah, and two days later, both were charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse, a felony. According to a statement from the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, the arrests were triggered after Franke's twelve-year-old son, who appeared emaciated and had "open wounds and duct tape around the extremities", had escaped through a window of Hildebrandt's house and asked at a neighboring house for food and water. Emergency services found Franke's ten-year-old daughter in the house, also malnourished; both children were taken to a hospital, where the boy was treated for severe malnourishment and "deep lacerations from being tied up with rope". A search of the house found evidence "consistent with the markings" on the twelve-year-old, and the Utah Division of Child and Family Services took the boy and girl and two more of Franke's children into care. Police later reported that according to the boy, cayenne pepper and honey had been used to dress his wounds.
  
  Franke and Hildebrandt were held without bail. Hildebrandt surrendered her license as a counselor pending resolution of the court case and a disciplinary investigation. After her arrest, YouTube suspended Franke from the platform, also suspending two channels that were linked to her.
  
  On December 18, 2023, Franke pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. She later pleaded not guilty to two other counts. The factual basis mentioned an incident of Franke forcing her son to work outdoors over several weeks with inadequate protection, resulting in severe sunburns, and claims that the children were possessed. Franke agreed to serve a prison sentence and to serve her respective sentences consecutively rather than concurrently. Franke was expected to testify against Hildebrandt in Hildebrandt's upcoming trial, but Hildebrandt separately pleaded guilty to four counts of felony aggravated child abuse on December 27, with two charges dropped as part of another plea deal. On February 20, 2024, Franke received four consecutive sentences of between one and fifteen years' imprisonment, meaning she must serve a minimum term of four years. Although the maximum term that could be imposed for all sentences would be 60 years, the Utah Code dictates that the time served by a defendant upon whom consecutive sentences are imposed must not exceed 30 years, except in circumstances of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Under Utah's indeterminate sentencing scheme, her exact term will be determined by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.