麻豆约拍

An influential American content producer who gave parenting advice on YouTube faces possibly decades in jail - for child abuse.

Ruby Franke had already admitted starving and torturing her six children. She's now been given a prison term of up to 60 years by a court in the US state of Utah. Her former business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, received the same sentence.

The two women were arrested last August after Franke's malnourished 12-year-old son escaped to a neighbour's house and asked for food and water. Prosecutors likened conditions at her home to a concentration camp.

In court, Franke tearfully apologised to her family. Newsday heard more details from Brian Schnee - a journalist for KUTV2 News in Salt Lake City.

"Ruby totally used this opportunity to point the finger of responsibility at Jodi Hildebrandt. People have been questioning her tactics for many, many years - seeing how she disciplined her children: not taking a meal to someone at school who forgot their meal or having a child sleep on the ground as a form of punishment."

"The maximum you can serve in Utah is probably 30 years. What we will learn in the coming months is the prison terms for both of them, as it wasn't up to the judge."

(Pic: Ruby Franke in court in 2023 Credit: Associated Press)

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