Jodi Hildebrandt

Last updated

Jodi Hildebrandt
Born
Jodi Nan Hildebrandt

(1968-01-17) January 17, 1968 (age 56) [1]
StatusIncarcerated
Occupation(s)Counselor, former YouTuber
Spouse
Brenten C. Pugh
​
​
(m. 1999;div. 2012)​
[2]
Children2
Conviction(s) Aggravated child abuse (4 counts)
Criminal penalty4 to 30 years imprisonment [a]
Details
Victims2
Date2020–2023
Date apprehended
August 30, 2023

Jodi Nan Hildebrandt (born January 17, 1968) is an American convicted child abuser, former counselor, retired businesswoman, and YouTuber. On August 30, 2023, Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke were arrested in Washington County, Utah, and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse of two of Franke's children under Utah law, four counts to which she pled guilty. She was sentenced to serve between four and thirty [a] years in prison on February 20, 2024. [3]

Contents

Early life

Jodi Hildebrandt was born to Jay & Florence (née Haynie) Hildebrandt on January 17, 1968. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and attended Canyon Del Oro High School. [5]

Hildebrandt was raised by devout followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and her father was a pilot with the US Air Force. [6]

She participated in the Miss Orem (Utah) pageant in 1990. [7]

Counselor

Hildebrandt was a Utah licensed counselor, starting in 2005. [8] [9] In 2012, she was the director of LifeStar Utah County, a franchisee of a national company based in Utah that specializes in the psychiatric and psychological treatment of pornography and sex addiction. [10]

ConneXions

In 2007, Hildebrandt founded the relationship and business counseling business Connexions (styled ConneXions) in Orem, Utah. [11]

In 2012, Hildebrandt's license was put on probation for 18 months after she "disclosed sensitive confidential information" of a former client to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Brigham Young University between 2008 and 2010, according to Utah Department of Commerce's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing documents. [8] [9] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that Hildebrandt was no longer on their Family Services' referral list due to the case. [10]

Hildebrandt was a business partner of family YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke, [8] launching a YouTube channel together called ConneXions in 2022, [12] and creating a joint Instagram account called Moms of Truth, [12] offering parenting classes. [13]

On August 30, 2023, Hildebrandt was arrested in Washington County, Utah, and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse. She surrendered her license as a counselor pending resolution of the court case and a disciplinary investigation. [14] [15] After the arrest of Hildebrandt and Franke, YouTube banned both from the platform. [16] After pleading guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, [17] she was sentenced in 2024 to four terms of one to 15 years consecutively, the maximum for each count under Utah law. [18]

Hildebrandt was later sued by Kevin Franke over the child abuse she committed on his kids and for ruining his family. [19]

Adaptation

Jodi Hildebrandt appeared in the Lifetime film Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story portrayed by Heather Locklear. [20]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Each of the four counts Hildebrandt was convicted on carried a term of 1 to 15 years' imprisonment, which were ordered to be served consecutively. The minimum amount of time Hildebrandt must serve is therefore 4 years, and, absent any superseding legislation, the maximum amount of time would be 60 years; however, the Utah Code dictates that the time served by a defendant upon whom consecutive sentences (except those of life imprisonment or the death penalty) are imposed must not exceed 30 years. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

Connexion is a variant spelling of connection and may refer to:

Hildebrandt is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Michael and Sharen Gravelle were the adoptive parents of eleven children in Clarksfield Township, Ohio, United States. In 2003 they were indicted for child abuse for, among other things, keeping the children in cage-like enclosures. The Gravelles claimed the cages were made to protect the children from each other.

Scouting sex abuse cases are situations where youth involved in Scouting programs have been sexually abused by someone who is also involved in the Scouting program. In some instances, formal charges have been laid, resulting in specific legal cases.

<i>Sons of Guns</i> 2011 American TV series or program

Sons of Guns is a reality television series that aired on the Discovery Channel between 2011 and 2014. The series centers on Red Jacket Firearms LLC, a Louisiana-based business that manufactures and sells custom firearms to law enforcement, security firms, and private collectors. Will Hayden was the founder and owner of the shop, while his daughter and business partner Stephanie managed the office.

Ame Lynn Deal was an American 10-year-old girl who was murdered in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2011. Deal had been the victim of long-term abuse by her family members before being locked inside a footlocker, where she subsequently died from suffocation. Sammantha and John Allen were convicted in 2017 of first degree murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection, while Sammantha Allen's mother, Cynthia Stoltzmann, arranged a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

The response of the Haredi Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York City, to allegations of sexual abuse against its spiritual leaders has drawn scrutiny from inside and outside the Jewish community. When teachers, rabbis, and other leaders have been accused of sexual abuse, authorities in the Haredi community have often failed to report offenses to Brooklyn police, intimidated witnesses, and encouraged shunning against victims and those members of the community who speak out against cases of abuse, although work has been done within Jewish communities to begin to address the issue of sexual abuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nate Holzapfel</span> American entrepreneur (born 1979)

Nate Holzapfel is an American entrepreneur and convicted fraudster known for his appearance on ABC's Shark Tank, where he pitched as a representative of the Mission Belt Co. He then pursued a career in consulting and public speaking.

Mormon abuse cases are cases of confirmed and alleged abuse, including child sexual abuse, by churches in the Latter Day Saint movement and its agents.

DaddyOFive, briefly known as FamilyOFive, was a controversial YouTube channel and online alias of Michael Christopher "Mike" Martin, which focused on daily vlogging and "prank" videos. At its peak, the channel's videos featured Martin, his wife Heather Martin—also known by her online alias MommyOFive—and their children. In 2017, following a series of "prank" videos showing the parents physically and emotionally abusing their children, the channel became the center of a public controversy, as outrage grew over their abuse of their children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Jones (musician)</span> American musician and convicted sex offender

Austin Henry Jones is an American convicted sex offender and former musician, who was active as a YouTuber from 2007 to 2017, prior to his conviction for receipt of child pornography in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Nassar</span> American serial child rapist (born 1963)

Lawrence Gerard Nassar is an American serial child rapist and former family medicine physician. From 1996 to 2014, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, where he used his position to exploit and sexually assault hundreds of young athletes as part of the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.

Gilbert Gauthe is an American former Catholic priest who served in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1972 to 1983. In 1984, Gauthe became the first Catholic priest in the United States to face a widely publicized criminal trial for child sexual abuse.

The Fantastic Adventures scandal was a 2019 scandal involving the YouTube channel Fantastic Adventures, run by Machelle Hackney Hobson of Maricopa, Arizona, in the United States. The scandal began when one of Hobson's biological children contacted the police after witnessing her adopted siblings being systematically abused by her mother. Hobson and the channel garnered worldwide media attention, given the degree of Hobson's child abuse.

YouTube may suspend accounts, temporarily or permanently, from their social networking service. Suspensions of high-profile individuals from YouTube are unusual and when they occur, often attract attention in the media.

On January 17, 2020, 16-year-old Colin Jeffrey "CJ" Haynie shot and killed his mother and three siblings and injured his father in Grantsville, Utah. The incident was the deadliest mass shooting in Utah since the 2007 Trolley Square shooting that killed six including the gunman, and Grantsville's first homicide in nearly 20 years.

Darryl Ian Koshy, better known by his stage name Dee Kosh, is a Filipino-born Singaporean former YouTuber, radio and internet personality, actor and singer, who has been convicted on sex offender charges.

Jennifer Shah is an American television personality and former cast member of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Known for her charismatic and controversial role on the show, Shah quickly became a prominent figure. Her career in reality television, however, was overshadowed by legal controversies; in 2022, she pleaded guilty to charges related to a telemarketing scheme that targeted elderly and other vulnerable individuals, resulting in her current prison sentence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utah State Correctional Facility</span> Mixed security prison in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) is one of two prisons managed by the Utah Department of Corrections' Division of Prison Operations. It is located in the northwestern corner of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It replaced the former Utah State Prison in July 2022.

Ruby Franke is an American prisoner and former family vlogger who ran the now defunct YouTube channel called 8 Passengers. On August 30, 2023, Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested in Washington County, Utah, and charged with six counts of felony aggravated child abuse of two of Franke's children under Utah law, four counts to which she pled guilty. She was sentenced to serve between four and thirty years in prison on February 20, 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010". ancestry.com . Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Does Jodi Hildebrandt have kids? All about her ex husband and family life amid ongoing trial". msn.com . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Jodi Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke sentenced to 4 consecutive terms in prison". Deseret News . February 20, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Utah Code Section 76-3-401". le.utah.gov. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Canyon Del Oro High School Yearbook, 1984". Classmates.com .
  6. ↑ "Jay Dustin Hildebrandt, 1932-2016". Newspapers.com .
  7. ↑ "Miss Orem Hopefuls Prepare for Pageant". Utah Digital Newspapers .
  8. 1 2 3 Cohen, Rebecca. "A former client of Jodi Hildebrandt says his family and life were 'destroyed' after she spilled details of his sessions to the Mormon Church". Business Insider .
  9. 1 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20210118185629/https://dopl.utah.gov/orders/2012-32_SO_2012-01-27.pdf
  10. 1 2 May, Heather. "Porn therapist disciplined for telling church, BYU about man". The Salt Lake Tribune .
  11. ↑ Turner, Jared (September 8, 2023). "YouTuber, business partner charged with child abuse suffer apparent 'medical issues' in jail". KUTV .
  12. 1 2 Bubalo, Mattea (September 9, 2023). "Ruby Franke and 8 passengers: The rise and fall of a parenting influencer". BBC News . Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  13. ↑ Ables, Kelsey; Bellware, Kim (September 1, 2023). "What to know about Ruby Franke, parenting YouTuber charged with child abuse". The Washington Post . Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  14. ↑ "YouTube mom Ruby Franke to plead guilty in child abuse case, attorney says". ABC News.
  15. ↑ "Jodi Hildebrandt agrees to give up counseling license amid child abuse charges". Deseret News . January 31, 2024.
  16. ↑ Wood, Tom (September 14, 2023). "YouTube removes all Ruby Franke content and threatens to ban anyone who re-uploads any". Unilad . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Jodi Hildebrandt: YouTuber Ruby Franke's business partner pleads guilty". BBC News . December 28, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Ruby Franke: Parenting advice YouTuber given maximum sentence for child abuse". BBC News . February 20, 2024.
  19. ↑ El-Bawab, Nadine (April 12, 2024). "Ruby Franke's husband sues her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt over child abuse". ABC News. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  20. ↑ Picotti, Tyler (October 3, 2024). "The Story of Ruby Franke's Chilling Spiral from Popular "Momfluencer" to Convicted Felon". Biography. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.