Video Shows Moment Ruby Franke’s Son, 12, Showed Up 'Emaciated' at Neighbor’s House, Asking for '2 Favors'
The footage was released about a month after the momfluencer was sentenced to prison for aggravated child abuse
Washington County Attorney's Office
Newly released footage depicts the moment Ruby Franke's 12-year-old son got help, after escaping the bunker-style home in Ivins, Utah, where he was held captive by his abusive influencer mother and family therapist last year.
The boy – too small for his checkered shorts and blue button-down shirt – rang the neighbor's door at 10:46 a.m., Aug. 30, according to Ring camera footage just released by the Washington County Attorney’s Office and obtained by PEOPLE. (The footage is shown below.)
When no one answered, the boy, referred to in court documents as "RF" walked away, per the footage.
Then the door opened, and a man’s voice called out, “Yes?”
RF turned around and began slowly approaching the man.
“Hey,” the boy said. “I was just wondering if you could do two favors?”
The boy paused.
“Well,” the man said. “What are they?”
“If you could take me to the nearest police station,” the boy started, and then he said, “Well, actually just one [favor] is fine.”
“What’s going on, son?” the man asked, walking out the door to meet him on his porch. “Have a seat there,” he added motioning to a chair near the door.
Washington County Attorney's Office
RF with the neighbor's wife, who fed him a banana and a bottle of water while they waited for police, Aug. 30, 2023.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
RF would later tell officers he climbed out the window of the home where he had been held captive by his mother, Ruby – made famous on YouTube for domonstrating strict parenting methods for her six children – and family therapist, Jodi Hildebrandt, and under the scorching desert sun, made his way about the distance of a block to the neighbor’s house to get help for himself and his younger sister, referred to court documents as EF, then 9.
Within hours of ringing that neighbor’s doorbell, Ruby and Hildebrandt had been arrested for child abuse and Ruby’s four minor children were placed into state custody.
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Ruby Franke (L) and Jodi Hildebrandt (R)Related: Former Parenting Youtuber Ruby Franke and Ex-Business Partner Sentenced to Prison for Child Abuse
In December the two women each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. They will spend between four and 30 years behind bars, based on sentencing limitations in Utah.
Ruby and Hildebrandt forced Ruby’s youngest children, RF and EF, to work under sweltering heat for hours with little food or water, per Ruby’s plea agreement obtained by PEOPLE.
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Ruby Franke during her first police interview, Aug. 30, 2023.The women also “regularly sought to indoctrinate” Ruby's son RF “and convince him that he was evil and possessed,” per the plea agreement, which added that he was made to believe that the torture he endured constituted “acts of love” and that “the punishments were necessary to repent.”
When RF tried to escape that July, his mother said she bound his hands and feet with two sets of handcuffs, per the plea agreement.
A month later, when he escaped a second time, RF went to three doors looking for help before he found a neighbor who called 911.
Related: Parts of YouTuber Ruby Franke's Journal Detailing Cruel Torture of Children Released by Authorities
In the safety of that neighbor’s porch, RF tilted his head back, taking a long swallow from the water bottle, per the newly-released Ring camera footage.
“I just had a 12 year old boy show up here at my front door asking for help,” the neighbor said in an excerpt of the 911 call just released with corresponding Ring camera footage by prosecutors. “He’s emaciated. He’s got tape around his legs. He’s hungry and he’s thirsty.”
In the full audio of the 911 call previously obtained by PEOPLE, the man breaks down as he describes RF's condition, which included open wounds.
“He says what’s happened to him is his fault,” the man said.
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