Ruby Franke is still married to husband Kevin amid child abuse accusations

Ruby Franke and hubby Kevin Franke “are still married” despite the influencer mom’s arrest for aggravated child abuse.

The latter’s lawyer, Randy S. Kester, confirmed to Page Six on Friday that the two men were still legally a couple.

When asked if Kevin was considering splitting from his wife in the wake of the allegations, Fester told us he was “not free to respond on the subject of divorce.”

The Frankes – who ran the ‘8 Pa*sengers’ YouTube channel – share children Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve.

Ruby, 41, was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse on Wednesday after a child ran to a neighbor’s house for help.

Her ConneXions podcast partner Jodi Hildebrandt – who recently posted a bizarre video about ‘victimization’ alongside Ruby – has also been arrested on the same suspicions.

According to arrest records obtained by Page Six, an “emaciated” child with duct tape around his extremities escaped through a window of Hildebrandt’s home to get food and water.

After authorities arrived, they deemed the child to be in “serious” condition and sent the victim to hospital, where he was placed on medical standby “due to deep lacerations caused by being attached to a rope “.

When officers entered the house, they discovered another child in “a similar physical state of malnutrition”.

The police report said Ruby had filmed a video at Hildebrandt’s home just days before the incident, indicating that the former had “knowledge of the abuse, malnutrition and neglect”.

Since then, four of the Franke children have been placed in the custody of the Ministry of Children and Family Services.

After the arrests made headlines, Kevin’s attorney told Page Six on Thursday that his client’s “urgent goal was simply to keep his children together in paternal custody.”

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Many people close to Ruby have since spoken out about the alleged abuse, including the couple’s eldest daughter, Shari.

Shari, who is estranged from her mother, rea*sured her followers that her siblings were fine and called the arrest a “big day” for their family.

“My family and I are very happy that justice has been served,” she wrote via her Instagram story. “We’ve been trying to talk to the police and the CPS about this for years, and we’re very happy that they finally decided to intervene.”

Ruby’s sisters also released a joint statement saying the arrest “must take place” and explained that they had been silent about Ruby’s alleged abuse for “3 years” for “the sake of her children”.

“Behind the public scene, we have done everything we can to try to keep children safe,” they wrote, noting that “children are safe now.”

Ruby and Kevin’s Youtube channel had surpa*sed 2.5 million subscribers before it was taken down due to backlash over the couple’s parenting style.

Family followers and internet sleuths have long accused Ruby of abuse.

In 2020, the mother-of-six raised her eyebrows after admitting to forcing her son, now 18, to sleep on a beanbag for seven months as punishment.

She also once refused to bring her 6-year-old daughter lunch to school after the little one forgot to pack it herself.

“I just got a text from Eve’s teacher, and she told me Eve didn’t make lunch today,” Ruby said in a since-deleted video.

But instead of bringing her food, Ruby decided to teach her kindergarten a lesson by starving her to death.

“So the natural outcome is that she will just have to be hungry,” she said at the time.

“I hope she gets hungry and comes home saying, ‘It was really painful to be hungry all day.’ I will make sure to always have lunch with me.

Ruby – who faces up to 15 years in prison on each count – has refused to speak to authorities and has yet to release a statement.