‘8 Passengers’ YouTube family appears in court for child welfare hearing

PROVO, Utah (KUTV) —

Kevin Franke and his two adult children arrived and left together with attorneys at Tuesday’s pretrial hearing in the family’s child welfare case, stemming from the arrest of wife and mother Ruby Franke.

Ruby’s Arrest and Child Welfare Case

Ruby is accused of felony child abuse after she was arrested alongside her business partner and fellow YouTuber Jodi Hildebrandt on Aug. 31. The arrest and subsequent charges left custody questions in the air as Kevin and Ruby had been separated for more than a year.

Closed Proceedings and Sealed Records

The court proceedings relating to the four minor Franke children are closed to the public, and court records are sealed, per an order from Judge Suchada Bazzelle. The family’s previous court appearance was for a scheduling conference, which Ruby attended remotely from Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane.

This time, Ruby was transported from Washington County to Utah County to attend the hearing in person.

Privacy Concerns and Media Coverage

Following the hearing Tuesday, Kevin Franke and his adult children were seen departing the Fourth District Courthouse with their attorneys. They declined to comment to KUTV 2News as they left.

The decision to close the child welfare court proceedings to the public came after a Sept. 18 conference at which Judge Bazelle said she would consider a request to seal future court documents and bar media from the courtroom due to multiple juveniles being involved.

It was a decision Kevin’s attorney, Randy Kester, supported.

“As to the adults, I don’t think anybody cares,” Kester told 2News after the conference last month. “But as for the kids … these kids have been through a lot and to have all this media exposure to them individually as little kids who have been manipulated, I think it’s better held privately.”

On Oct. 10, the judge ordered the hearings to continue behind closed doors and all documents to be sealed from the public. Media and any hopeful spectators at the courthouse on Tuesday were given court documents explaining that decision.

“The Court recognizes the media and public interest in this case and values transparency in our court system,” the judge’s order stated, closing the proceedings to the public and media.

The judge cited a news report published on a U.K.-based website which included “confidential and intensely private information about the children” that were shared in court.

“News media and social media coverage of this matter have been intense, extraordinary and intrusive to the judicial process and are expected to remain so indefinitely,” Judge Bazzelle wrote. “The presence of members of the general public and/or news media in these proceedings have been, are, and will be detrimental to the best interest of the minor parties in this matter.”

2News did not report on the first court hearing as it involved information concerning minors. Despite the children’s fame and familiarity among YouTube audiences, 2News has also chosen not to name or show any of those who are not legal adults.

The judge’s order further bars participants in the case from posting on social media or sharing with anyone, including the news media, any details about the court proceedings.

Child Welfare Case Process

“Whenever you’re dealing with families, especially children, the courts are going to want to keep that as private as possible,” said Jordan Van Oostendorp, a Vernal defense attorney not connected to this case.

Van Oostendorp has handled many child welfare cases himself and said they “are about the safety of the children. This is different from a criminal case.”

He said a pretrial hearing is usually held within 15 days after the state files a petition regarding the welfare of the children involved. If the parties deny the allegations, he said further hearings or mediation could be set, with a possible trial sometime in the future.

“The endgame would be that when the state is no longer involved with this case, the children are in a safer place than they are now,” Van Oostendorp said.

While the details of Tuesday’s hearing are private, Van Oostendorp said it could have included the judge ordering services like parenting courses, therapy, or mental health evaluations.

Body Cam Footage and Family Dynamics

The Franke family, who created and starred in YouTube’s hit channel 8 Passengers, appeared together in court on Tuesday just days after 2News obtained body cam footage of a police interaction with Kevin Franke and officers with the Springville Police Department.

In an incident report, police stated Kevin wanted to press charges against his adult daughter, Shari, as family members accessed the Franke’s home and retrieved items after Ruby’s arrest.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

The footage was recorded the day after Ruby’s arrest in Ivins, 256 miles away, as police were returning items to Kevin that were allegedly taken from the family home by Shari. In the video, the officers are heard explaining to Kevin that it wouldn’t be considered theft if Shari removed items from a family home in which she’d been in multiple times. Police also indicated Kevin hadn’t been in the residence apparently since his separation from Ruby.

In a statement to 2News, Kester said reports that Kevin wanted to press charges against Shari – and sue the Springville Police Department – were not true.

He added that the two were “working together on bygones and resuming a loving and healthy father-daughter relationship.”

Shari Franke has been a vocal opponent of her mother’s for some time, and was one of several people who contacted authorities up to a year prior to Ruby’s arrest to report the Franke children were being abused.

Meanwhile, the 8 Passengers channel has since been scrubbed from YouTube.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDGs Addressed:

• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

2. Specific Targets:

• Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children
• Target 16.10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

3. Indicators:

• No specific indicators are mentioned in the article.

Analysis:

The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. The article discusses a child welfare case involving allegations of child abuse against Ruby Franke, a YouTuber and founder of a counseling program. The case raises concerns about the well-being and safety of the children involved.

Based on the content of the article, the specific targets under SDG 16 that can be identified are:

1. Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence against and torture of children – The case involves allegations of child abuse, which aligns with this target.
2. Target 16.10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements – The court proceedings and records related to the child welfare case have been sealed from the public, highlighting the importance of protecting the privacy and well-being of the children involved.

Although no specific indicators are mentioned or implied in the article, progress towards the identified targets can be measured through indicators such as:

• Number of reported cases of child abuse and violence against children
• Level of public access to information related to child welfare cases
• Extent of privacy protection for children involved in legal proceedings

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: kutv.com

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