Jodi Hildebrant’s controversial organization, ConneXions, played a role in former YouTube star Ruby Franke’s child abuse case.

Hildebrant and Ruby met in 2019, when the “8 Passengers” vlogger was looking for help parenting her and husband Kevin Franke’s eldest son, Chad. (Ruby and Kevin welcomed six children before he filed for divorce in 2023.)

Ruby, in turn, was also looking for support — which she found in Hildebrant’s ConneXions. “[The organization] has truly turned my life around,” Ruby said in a video, which was shown in ID’s 2025 series Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence. Hildebrant went on to move into the Franke family home.

In 2023, Ruby and Hildebrant were arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse. The arrest occurred after one of Ruby’s sons escaped ou

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