Jodi Hildebrandt

Last updated

Jodi Hildebrandt
Born
Jodi Nan Hildebrandt

(1969-06-15) June 15, 1969 (age 55) [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 June 15, 1969) 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 June 15, 1969. 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 children and for ruining his family. [19]

Adaptation

Jodi Hildebrandt was depicted in the Lifetime film Mormon Mom Gone Wrong: The Ruby Franke Story and 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]

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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.
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