Shari Franke reveals what she told mom Ruby Franke after calling child protective services

Ruby Franke’s eldest daughter will be releasing her memoir on January 7

Ruby Franke’s daughter Shari has shared what she said when she called child protective services on her mother, Ruby Franke.

Shari reflects on her relationship with her infamous influencer mother in her new memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom. In February 2024, Ruby was sentenced to 30 years in prison for abusing her 12-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter. She and her now ex-husband, Kevin Franke, ran a popular family YouTube Channel “8 Passengers,” which accumulated more than two million subscribers.

Following her arrest, Ruby and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, including trying to convince Ruby’s two youngest children that they were evil, possessed by demons, and needed to be punished. Ruby’s four minor children were taken into the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services.

In an excerpt from her memoir shared with People, Shari recounted what happened when she first child protective services in a bid to help her siblings.

“Ruby’s face contorted with anger and hurt. ‘I can’t believe you called the police on me,’ she began, her voice rising. ‘After everything I’ve done for you, after all the sacrifices I’ve made. How could you betray me like that, Shari? How could you be so selfish?” Shari wrote.

“The words hit me like physical blows, but I stood my ground. [I reminded myself] that I wasn’t alone, that I had support beyond the toxic web of my family,” she continued. “‘Selfish?’ I repeated, finding strength in my voice. ‘I was worried about the kids. They were alone for five days, Mom. Five days!’”

Ruby Franke’s daughter Shari claims her mother acused her of needing ‘attention’ when Shari called CPS to protect her siblings (@momsoftruth / sharifranke / Instagram)

According to Shari, her mother snapped at her and said her children were “fine,” saying they were “old enough to take care of themselves.” Ruby accused her daughter of being “jealous” and needing “attention,” Shari wrote.

“I felt a bubble of hysterical laughter rise in my throat. How could she twist this around, make it about me? But then, wasn’t that always her way?

“‘This isn’t about me,’ I said, my voice steadier than I felt. ‘It’s about the safety of my siblings. It’s about doing what’s right.’”

Shari – who announced her engagement last week – went on to detail how her mother responded to her remark, claiming “Ruby’s eyes flashed dangerously.” She then told her daughter that she “had no idea what’s right.”

“‘You’re just a child playing at being an adult. Your siblings are terrified of you now for calling the police on them,’” Ruby told Shari, according to the book. “Ruby’s face hardened, her lips twisting into a sneer. ‘One day, Shari, you’ll come crawling back to me. Begging for my forgiveness. And it’ll be hard for me to give it to you, but I’ll be gracious.’”

Shari said she told her mother she was “not going to apologize for telling the truth” and began to cry.

“‘Ever since you were five years old, I could see it in your eyes. The way you looked at me, the way you judged me. You’ve never appreciated everything I’ve done for you, all the sacrifices I’ve made,’” Ruby allegedly said.

Shari recalled her response, writing: ‘That’s not true,’ I choked. ‘I never hated you, Mom. I was just scared of you.’

After Ruby was arrested in 2023, she admitted to several horrific acts, as shown in a statement filed in court to support her guilty pleas, which said she abused two of her children from May 22 2023 until her arrest. She said that she tried to convince two of her children that they were evil and possessed and that the “punishments” were a form of repentance. She described the abuse as “acts of love.”

Traumatic details revealed that she forced her son into long physical tasks outside in summer without shoes or adequate water, leaving him with “repeated and serious sunburns.” He was also denied sufficient food, and when he was given food, they were very plain meals while the rest of the household got more flavourful food, the plea agreement said.

In February 2024, Ruby was handed four one to 15-year sentences in prison, one for each of the four counts of child abuse to which she pleaded guilty in December 2023. However, she and Hildebrandt will only serve up to 30 years in prison due to a Utah state law that caps the sentence duration for consecutive penalties. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will consider their behavior while incarcerated and determine how much of that time each will spend behind bars.

In October 2024, Shari spoke to the Utah House of Representatives about protecting child influencers. “I don’t come today as the daughter of a felon, nor a victim of an abnormally abusive mother. I come today as a victim of family vlogging,” she told the Business and Labor Interim Committee.

“It is more than just filming your family life and putting it online. It is a full-time job, with employees, business credit cards, managers, and marketing strategies,” Shari said. “Some of our most popular videos were when my eyebrow was accidentally waxed off, and the whole world saw a crying teenager who just wanted to mourn in private.”

She explained that social media quickly became her family’s primary source of income. In terms of the compensation she received, she mentioned a “$100 shopping spree” for filming an embarrassing moment or going on a family vacation.

“If I could go back and do it all again, I’d rather have an empty bank account now and not have my childhood plastered all over the internet. No amount of money I received has made what I’ve experienced worth it,” she continued.