Franke father files malpractice suit against convicted ex-therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, alleges further abuse

UTAH COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — Kevin Franke, ex-husband of former family Youtuber Ruby Franke, is suing his then-wife’s business partner and therapist Jodi Hildebrandt for medical malpractice, alleging that she used her authority as a mental health professional to abuse and isolate him from his family.

Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke both pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and were sentenced to up to 30 years in prison in February 2024. They were arrested after two of Franke’s children were found emaciated in Hildebrandt’s Washington County home. One child managed to escape the home, and neighbors called police after noticing duct tapes on his wrists and ankles.

According to the lawsuit, Kevin Franke was estranged from his then-wife and children at the time the abuse occurred, at the insistence of Hildebrandt. He did not even know that his children were living in Hildebrandt’s home and being abused while she continued to provide him mental health counselling.

The lawsuit states that while Kevin believed that this counseling was intended to help him reunite with his family, in reality, Hildebrandt used it to isolate him from his children, abuse and manipulate Kevin, and even get him fired from his job at BYU.

As a mental health provider, Hildebrandt owed Kevin a duty of care as a patient, and he was in a vulnerable position of trust. The lawsuit alleges that she breached this duty of care, using improper mental health care techniques.

Kevin Franke is requesting economic damages for the money spent on Hildebrandt’s counseling. He reportedly paid between $300 and $375 per month for group therapy and approximately $900 a month for his son’s weekly therapy sessions during this time. He is also requesting non-economic damages and attorney fees and costs.

The lawsuit demands a trial by jury for these claims.

Details from the lawsuit

Hildebrandt’s license as a mental health counselor was revoked in May of 2024, but prior to that, when she was offering counseling to the Frankes, she was licensed in Utah. The lawsuit states that she used her credentials to solicit Kevin and Ruby Franke as patients and often referred to herself as a psychologist.

Allegedly, without assessments, testing, or diagnostic criteria, Hildebrandt told Kevin that she was diagnosing him as being “lustful, narcissistic, manipulative, deceptive, controlling, and selfish.” She reportedly convinced Ruby to support this diagnosis and her treatment plan for him.

Hildebrandt’s professional advice was that Kevin should have no communication or contact with his children becase his personality and mental health conditions would have a negative impact on them and could lead them to adopt the same behaviors.

On July 20, 2022, Ruby and Hildebrandt allegedly mandated that Kevin and his oldest son Chad (then 17-years-old) move out of the family home and live elsewhere with no contact with any other family members, including Ruby. Kevin was relying on Hildebrandt’s professional expertise, and so he and Chad left the home.

Hildebrandt also reportedly mandated that Kevin and Chad live apart and cease contact with each other, because living together would only foster more bad behavior. Chad was also seeing Hildebrandt as a therapist at this time, and Kevin was enrolled in men’s group therapy with Hildebrandt.

The lawsuit goes on to allege that Hildebrandt used her knowledge of Kevin’s deep religious beliefs and commitments to manipulate him into adopting “her unprofessional and deceitful advice.” She reportedly told him that his “soul was in danger of being damned,” and this culminated in Hildebrandt convincing Kevin that he was not worthy of holding a temple recommend.

Temple recommends are required to enter the temple for the LDS church, and despite being deeply hurt by the assertion that he was not worthy and would be a hypocrite if he attempted to renew the recommend, Kevin said he did not attend a meeting to renew his temple recommend in 2023.

Hildebrandt further convinced him that he needed to be fired from his job at BYU, that losing his job would “finally wake him up,” and he was not worthy to work there. Kevin was later fired from his job at BYU in June 2023, because having a temple recommend was a requirement for his employment.

Allegedly, when Hildebrandt learned that he was fired, she scolded him and said that it was unnecessary and “confirmed that he was a selfish person.”

Throughout all of this, Hildebrandt was allegedly sharing confidential and detailed information about Kevin with the other members of the men’s therapy group. She then instructed other members to use that information to “mentally, psychologically, and spiritually abuse Kevin.” She also shared confidential information about other patients with Kevin during this time.

During group therapy sessions, Hildebrandt would also reportedly belittle Kevin, accusing him of being a “lover of Satan” and accusing him of hiding “something very dark and evil.” She withheld counseling from him unless he confessed to her his darkness, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

Hildebrandt moved Ruby and Kevin’s minor children into her home in May of 2023, and she never disclosed this information to Kevin, even as she continued to treat him with the stated goal of reuniting him with his family. At that time, she and Ruby were abusing the children.

The lawsuit goes on to state that during the same period of time, Hildebrandt convinced Ruby to buy property in Arizona, and so Ruby liquidated approximately $80,000 from financial accounts belonging to Ruby, Kevin, and their children. Ruby and Hildebrandt intended to move the children out of Utah to this property.

Finally, in July of 2023, Hildebrandt abruptly announced that she would be temporarily and immediately ending Kevin’s services with her. She reportedly told Kevin that God had told her that he needed solitude to heal, and that he could follow up with her in six months to see if he had “by then sufficiently humbled and repented yet.”