Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY – Shari Franke, daughter of YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke, shared her story for the first time when she released her book Tuesday, titled "The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom."
Shari Franke is the eldest daughter of Ruby Franke, who was convicted of child abuse in December.
In her book, Shari Franke refers to her mom as Ruby, and she does not name her underage siblings, who she wrote can share their story if and when they want to. Shari Franke uncovers a lot of gaps in the family's story, which caught attention following August 2023, when her two youngest siblings were found malnourished and severely wounded in an Ivins home.
"I was scared of (Ruby) for so long, and I am pure without her approval and I am just fine," Shari Franke said.
In an interview with ABC News, the 21-year-old remembered a childhood of what she called "preexisting abuse," before counselor Jodi Hildebrandt came into her family's lives.
"When I was like 5 or 6, Ruby was really physical," Shari Franke said. "Whether it was a slap to the lip or slap to the cheek. When I would practice the piano, her hand would slam."
In her book, Shari Franke recounts the time her brother, Chad Franke, was disciplined after he cut off a lock of her hair.
"Ruby had buzzed a thick, uneven stripe down the center of his head, leaving him with a harsh reverse mohawk. 'Maybe next time you'll think twice before you decide to play barber,'" she said, according to her daughter.
"When she met Jodi, that kind of stopped," Shari Franke said.
Shari Franke said the discipline became psychological when the licensed mental health counselor, Hildebrandt, started therapy with her family.
Shari Franke said Hildebrandt was introduced to them through a family friend who was taking the ConneXions life coaching program. Shari Franke wrote that she became heavily influenced by Hildebrandt at one point during weekly therapy sessions with her. But when the counselor moved into their family home, forcing Shari Franke out of her own bedroom, she was wary of her intentions and teachings.
"The vibes I was getting was strange between them," Shari Franke said.
In her book, she describes how she viewed Hildebrandt during that time as a "deeply damaged woman."
When Kevin Franke was asked to leave the family home, Chad Franke moved out, and Shari Franke said she was disowned. She said neighbors would call, voicing concerns about the younger siblings being left alone for days.
Shari Franke writes about calling the authorities multiple times. She said a Utah law passed in 2018 made it hard for agencies to investigate neglect cases, as it allows children to walk to school or play in a park alone. But Shari Franke said the law is vague and had unintended consequences.
She was told the county attorney said there was not enough hard evidence of abuse to take action.
When a neighbor called Shari Franke in August 2023 to report police were at the family's house, she imagined the worst.
"Tiny body bags being carried out of my mother's home," she said she imagined.
Despite her worst fears, her siblings were found alive.
Shari Franke said she's not sure how sorry her mother is for the treatment of her and her siblings.
"What she has done is so bad, I don't think her mind allows her to fully comprehend the guilt of all that," Shari Franke said. "So, I think she probably genuinely believes everything she said. I don't believe it though."
Shari Franke said she is going to be private from now on. She announced on Instagram that she's engaged, and her dad, Kevin Franke, told KSL-TV he's helping his youngest children in their recovery.
At the end of her book, Shari Franke said her mother wrote her a letter, only apologizing for not spending enough time with her before she went to college. Shari Franke said she and her father haven't written back.
