The Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke - BBC IPlayer

I watched half then unfortunately fell asleep, not because it was boring just because that’s what I often do 🤣
It was very interesting, a complete personality disorder I would think, I thought the Dad was rather nice but too much in love or too passive to stop her( or happy to have the money coming in ). she got completely over run with the adoration and money didn’t she? I ll watch the rest later today and come back with further observations.. I saw up to when the older children were about 12 ish

Well it was rather long, unusually I didn't fall asleep Yes the dad was rather nice, but suffered from an inferiority complex, on the assumption that he was punching above his weight in landing this glamorous wife, describing himself as a nerd. I thought she was an awful mother, even before she fell under the auspices of the completely insane Hildebrandt woman. Yes, initially she made the family a lot of money but had a total disregard for her children's well being they were mere props in her brand building. They all suffered, the eldest daughter, no longer has anything to do with her and the older son is very conflicted in how he feels. She and her accomplice are in prison now, two of the children nearly died whilst in their care. Both the woman were charged with physical cruelty and neglect.

I haven't seen that one but have listened to a number of podcasts on the case, it is a well known case in American true crime. One of the children escaped and ran to a nearby property, the audio of the elderly couple unable to comprehend how badly the child had been treated is heartbreaking. I am glad the first people that child encountered after escape were kind. I think the case also shows the dangers of 'counsellors' and how easy it is to establish yourself as an 'expert' in peoples lives.

I am familiar with this story, which seems beyond belief.
I understand that the " counsellor" is appealing her sentence.

I watched all episodes last night.It seems unbelievable that people could hold the beliefs those 2 women held.They had tortured,starved and kept the children prisoners in their home.I think the children would have died if the boy hadn't managed to escape and got help from kind neighbours
No sentence is harsh enough for the women and I'm sure it won't come anywhere near what the children suffered

It's truly awful,those poor children. I hope they recover as much as it possible,from their ordeal. I'm just starting episode 2.

Thanks. I’ll watch this. Mind you I assumed it was a Storyville documentary and have realised there are lots of them to catch up on. Having binge watched a few comedies recently it’s time I watched something serious. It made me think of people I follow on instagram; it has occurred to me recently that some of them use their pets or children to get sponsorship and a certain amount of fame and it’s troubling me a bit. Especially as I tend to get emotionally wrapped up in some of the things that happen.

Has this been on Netflix or another streaming service before? I think I may have seen it somewhere.

I’m not sure that making the humiliation of young (or anyone) public is helpful, but maybe if it points out red flags so that neighbours can act more quickly it might help.

it’s on BBC iplayer just now.

Doodledog

Has this been on Netflix or another streaming service before? I think I may have seen it somewhere.

I’m not sure that making the humiliation of young (or anyone) public is helpful, but maybe if it points out red flags so that neighbours can act more quickly it might help.

One neighbour said that the police couldn’t go into the house because there had been no sign of physical abuse and she says she blames herself for not lying so maybe if it happens again in the future lessons might have been learned. Then again, even knowing that would any of us lie to the police? I guess we wouldn’t. Wasn’t the town where they lived amazing with the back drop of the mountains. I wonder if that added to their religious fanaticism?

My goodness those poor little children
I hope that awful Jodi woman is in solitary or she will have half the prisoners believing her madness
They should have got life with no parole that poor little boy and girl my heart is bleeding for them
The husband was besotted and bewitched by Ruby

I’m not sure that making the humiliation of young (or anyone) public is helpful, but maybe if it points out red flags so that neighbours can act more quickly it might help.

Like Gisèle Pélicot said, the shame is on the other side - the abusers of any kind are the ones being humiliated and exposed and they deserve it.
The children are not humiliated at all in surviving horrendous treatment.

I’ve just read an article in the Guardian about the eldest daughter who wrote a book about what happened to her family ( she went on to be abused by someone else after she left home). How she has come out of all this and become such a well balanced person is amazing. I guess I’m interested in the documentary because I do follow a lot of people on instagram and must admit to thinking recently how great it is that I can actually chat to people whose eg books I read or music I listen to. And only a few days ago someone pointed out on a dog rescue page that I follow that they have to be very careful when rehoming dogs because people might take on a high profile rescue do and then use them on social media ( I’d been feeling rather uncomfortable about one such page that I follow and it rang a few alarm bells with me). So I think this is more than a documentary on child abuse but a reflection of how huge a part social media is in our lives. I think it’s a good thing that the government are trying to protect teenagers from it. Much as I like and depend on social media myself especially now that I’m stuck at home most of the time, I wish I could remove it from my grandchildren’s lives. I do love to watch a good film but it’s documentaries such as this one that really make me think and question a lot of things…

I think the children, the older two who voiced their thoughts having coming through that ordeal, were both frank and brave. I didn't know the daughter had been abused after that.

It just confirms what I've always thought, children can not make informed choices about whether or not they want to be part and parcel of what is often an idealised version of what the parent is trying to create, a money making brand. Children are not an extension of their parents. They should be allowed to become their own person away from the public glare. There are some who expose their children to a public life they've orchestrated, are manipulative at best and at worst it's child abuse, very blurred lines between the two.

Reminds me that one of the Osborne children refused to take part in their show.

Yes, I remember. She was old enough to make an informed choice. So many kids are so young when they're roped in, how can they possibly know if having a public profile is something that they may have to hawk around and subject them to ridicule as they negotiate their way through life under public scrutiny.

Ruby Franke had no empathy towards her children in that respect they were mere accessories. Absolutely crap mother beneath the wholesome American mom bravado.

The daughter did go on to be on her own utube channel. But after announcing her engagement ( she’s still in the Mormon church and marrying another Mormon) she says from now on her life is going to be private. It’s hard to believe that it all happened so recently. And all these cases only seem to come to light if one of the children manages to escape, which makes you wonder how many times no one actually finds out about them .

Yes, I’ve seen it and is utterly shocking!