i'd rather do ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, ruby franke, alarming new allegations. the utah mommy blogger whose

tough love blog had a billion views, arrested with her business partner. charged with six counts of felony child abuse. >> we knew that jody does this. we knew 14, almost 15 years ago that she's already done this. to me. >> byron: were warning signs missed? >> i was really hoping keeping them home from school and wiping the floorboards would really bring pain. want to be an author? spice girl horner, a young adult novel she says is a thank you to america. >> it was america that taught me, you're allowed to dream. you're allowed to be anything you want. >> any chance there is a spice girls tour in america? and remembering nfl hall of famer dick butkus, a linebacker "sports illustrated" once called "the most feared man in the game."

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bail, charged with six counts of felony child abuse. some who know the pair say they should have been stopped a long time ago. here's my "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> 911, the address of your emergency? >> i just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help. >> juju: august 30th, a 12-year-old boy shows up at a stranger's house. >> he's emaciated, he's got tape around his legs, he's hungry and he's thirsty. what's the mom's name? ruby franke? ruby franke is his mom's name. >> reporter: ruby franke. ironically, she'd been a high-flying mormon mom-fluencer, 2.5 followers on her youtube channel "eight passengers." personal brand built around tough love. >> i was really hoping that keeping them home from school and wiping the floorboards would

really bring pain. >> reporter: but now ruby's 12-year-old son's pain brings this neighbor to tears. >> this boy has been -- has obviously been -- he's been -- he's obviously covered in wounds. >> reporter: the house the boy says he escaped from, jody hilderbrand's. hours south of ruby's south. >> i'm jody hilderbrand. >> i'm ruby franke. >> reporter: jody was a marriage counseling who treated sex addiction through her work with the counseling network life star. she joined forces with ruby franke on a life coaching business called "connections." >> all of us want connection. we want to have relationships where we feel close and where there's love. >> reporter: after that 911 call, ruby's 12-year-old son and her 10-year-old daughter were taken to the hospital. >> the police find laptops, tablets, cell phones, they find ropes, duct tape, handcuffs --

>> reporter: jody and ruby arrested and charged with six counts of felony child abuse. while the arrests sent shockwaves, some who knew judy hildebrand had been raising concerns for years. >> we knew jody does this. we knew 14, 15 years ago she's already done this. to me. >> reporter: jesse hilderbrand, who uses they/them proannounce, has spent years finding a voice after suffering what they call brutal abuse at the hands of their aunt jody. >> lock me in this room, write my sins on a paper, come back in, read these sins back to me. have me kneel on hands and knees and beg forgiveness. >> reporter: the 30-year-old has built a life far away from a strict mormon upbringing. >> i grew up in a very traditional mormon household. dad is the provider. my mom was a stay-at-home mom. my younger childhood was very happy. >> reporter: during adolescence, jesse started to rebel. the conflicts came to a head.

jesse's parents decided it was best for jesse to go live with aunt jody. without warning, this they left their teenager at a family gathering. >> woke up, jody and my grandma and grandpa to tell me my life as i knew it was about to change. >> reporter: at first jesse says they decided to give the new arrangement a chance. after all, jesse's aunt was a licensed counselor. >> jody hildebrand has been one of the top recommended therapists by the mormon church in utah for at least 15 to 20 years. >> reporter: but at home, jesse says their aunt was an altogether different person. >> she made me sleep outside in the snow. she duct taped me. i wasn't allowed to speak to anyone. >> what, in theory, was the justification for the duct tape? >> the duct tape was, in her words, an external reminder to me that i'm a liar and that every word that comes out of my mouth is a lie. >> juju: march 2010, jesse made it to the police station in

american fork and filed a report against aunt jody. jesse's statements in that report echoing the story they told us, duct tape over her mouth, sleeping outside, not allowing her to talk. police sent her to a teen safe home, but after one day, jesse ended up back with aunt jody. >> so after i went to the police, the punishments got more and more severe. >> reporter: after nearly a year of living with aunt jody, their aunt brought jesse to work. >> i have to -- like, it is now or it is never. and i grabbed that jacket, and i literally just started running. >> reporter: jesse never went back. with dark accusations against jody coming to light, scrutiny is also falling on her partner on connections, ruby franke. >> people who watched "eight passengers" were the ones to first ring the alarm as to this alleged abuse that we're seeing now. >> people have been pointing out how problematic this family is for a while. >> when does the way a parent

parents go from cringe worthy to child abuse? >> my bedroom was taken away for seven months, then you give it back a couple of weeks ago -- >> i don't think our viewers know that. >> sleeping on a bean bag. >> sleep on a bean bag since october. >> reporter: after the controversy, viewers were questioning ruby's parenting style and her husband kevin's, who often joined her on the "eight passenger" channel. the two have now been separated over a year. >> many the viewers of "eight passengers" over the past two or three years became more and more disturbed and started turning ruby and kevin in to child protective services in utah. >> reporter: in 2020, a change.org petition requesting cps check on the children received hundreds of signatures. "impact" obtained records showing police responded to the franke home more than a dozen times over the past few years, including several reports of juvenile problems in 2018 and 2019, and multiple welfare checks in 2022.

>> and to the point where they felt like it was a necessity to go talk to the family, at least to the children, to find out if there was any merit to any of the allegations. >> juju: police who investigated the case were unable to speak to the children and filed a request for a warrant to enter the home. >> even though it was submitted to the judge, the warrant was not signed and it wasn't granted. and so there wasn't much they could do at that point. >> reporter: cps is now being investigated for their handling of the case by utah's child welfare legislative oversight panel. through his attorney, ruby's husband kevin says those early complaints were nothing serious. >> kevin felt like that they were just being harassed by people online calling the authorities and having to come to their home. it was just a difference in parenting style. but nothing abusive up to that point. >> juju: after the shocking arrest, there's a growing chorus of people laying the blame

squarely on jody hildebrand. >> it's 100% jody. and i understand why the public is focusing on ruby. it's ruby's children. but all of these theories and these modalities and these parenting ideas, that all comes from jody. >> kevin feels like jody manipulated the entire family. children included. >> reporter: since her arrest, jody hildebrand has given up her counseling license. sitting in a striped prison jumpsuit, jody answered to a higher authority, a judge. >> jody mann helder brant? >> yes. >> okay. >> reporter: ruby franke sat expressionless, a far cry from the bubbly mom-fluencer of "eight passengers" fame. both ordered held without bail. neither have entered a plea. "impact" reached out to both ruby and jody's attorneys. ruby's declined to comment. we have yet to hear back from

jody's. >> just one count of aggravated child abuse is up to 15 years in jail. at the same time, they can say, you know what, we found that you have abused them six different times. you could get to a high number here. >> reporter: ruby's four minor kids are in state custody, but their father kevin, seen in these dailymail.com photos, is trying to win them back. >> his hopes and his objective is to convince the state that he's a good dad and that those children would be much better off with him than in state custody. >> juju: for jesse, healing and moving on has been a long and winding journey. >> i was incredibly unstable in my early 20s. i thought that i was evil. i thought that i was this unloveable creature from hell. >> juju: jesse is not currently speaking with their parents. jesse says the wounds from the alleged abuse at the hands of aunt jody, still too raw. "impact" reached out to jesse's father for comment and did not receive a response. jesse is now living life on

their own terms and recently moved to seattle to be a tattoo artist. >> i've been a musician pretty much my whole life. this is just a song about -- just -- relationships. like all good songs. ♪ at the last scheduled train to the city ♪ ♪ watch the glow from the street lights go by ♪ >> juju: what would you say to jody if she were sitting across from you right now? >> you did not win. and you do not own my life. ♪ just stay ♪ you have no power.

>> byron: our thanks to juju. see the full episode of "ruby franke, double life" on "impact by nightline," now streaming on hulu. when we come back, ginger spice, the spice girl turned author, is sharing the details of her new novel. ♪ ♪ i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements at 4 weeks. skyrizi is the first and only il-23 inhibitor for crohn's that can deliver both clinical remission and endoscopic improvement. the majority of people on skyrizi achieved long lasting remission at 1 year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections

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horner is now an author spreading the girl power message to a new generation. here's abc's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: she was part of the ground-breaking girl group spice girls, dominating the charts in the '90s with hits like "spice up your life." ♪ get your act together we could be just fine ♪ >> reporter: and "wannabe." ♪ if you want to be my lover you gotta get rid of my friend ♪ >> reporter: ginger space along with baby, scary, sporty, and posh sold over 100 million records world wide, making them the best-selling girl group of all-time. more recently, ginger spice revved into formula spice, entering the fast and glamorous world of formula 1 racing on "drive to survive." >> your car is doing well? >> yeah, we're happy. >> reporter: geri famous for that iconic union jack dress and red boots, now bringing all that

girl power to a new generation. there's a surprise in the book for people? >> oh, yes. yes, yes, yes. >> reporter: after writing a series of children's books, she's out with a new novel, "rosie frost and the falcon queen" that she says is a thank you to america. >> a lot of people know you from one particular season of your life, with spice girls. and they might be surprised to hear you talking about writing a book? >> i think it's natural and wonderful to be able to do different things. i used to watch a lot of american television. it was america that taught me, you're allowed to dream. you're allowed to be anything you want. just go for it. doesn't matter where you are. and i think that's a really nice idea. wherever you are in your life, you're allowed to try different things. >> reporter: the story follows rosie frost, a recently orphaned redhead tasks with saving the mystical bloodstone island founded by queen elizabeth i where history comes alive. >> the world needs a new hero.

and this is an adventure about the lead hero, rosie frost, and she's finding the courage she never knew she had. it's set on bloodstone island, which is -- imagine jurassic park, but instead of dinosaurs, it's endangered animals. >> there is a little sprinkle of girl power. >> 100%. >> something you're known for. >> absolutely. >> reporter: there's also a little sprinkle of herself. it's interesting, because you look at rosie, she has red hair. is rosie in some way a little bit of you as well? >> you can't help but put a bit of yourself in there, just a little bit, or a point of view. you know, certain characteristics. a little bit. they always say, write about what you know. there are some childhood experiences she has, like she experienced grief. i lost a parent, so did they. >> reporter: what made you want to write a book? >> i've always loved writing. i'm studying english literature

before i went into music, so it's always been a passion of mine. i love reading as well. i didn't have a lot of money when i was you know, young. so, you know, i always used to go to the library, get a book out. it was always really important to me. i think when you write, the secret you discover, you get to decide what happens. you get to play god. who lives, who dies. who what was, who cries. it's a really powerful thing. and let's face it, sometimes we don't have that much power in our own lives externally. so i quite enjoy that process. >> reporter: and music lovers are in for a treat. >> i put music in the book. you can actually scan a bar code, you get music. there's two songs in there. just scan it, and you can hear the songs. they're quite -- one's quite forceful and has got rap in it. the other one's like a meaningful ballad. they help you with the narrative. >> what do you hope people take away when we read the book?

>> i hope in different ways, you know, their soul feels lifted up. but then they feel enriched and empowered and they're smiling. >> reporter: all powerful themes from her musical roots, raising the question -- >> any chance there's a spice girls tour in america? >> you know what, i love america. and i love being the spice girls. if that happens, if and when, it would be an absolute gift. right now my focus is one child at a time. rosie frost, i think -- i feel she really deserves that attention. so i'm focusing on her. we'll see. >> you're open to it? >> yeah. >> byron: we'll have to wait and see. our thanks to eva. coming up, remembering legendary linebacker dick butkus. aah, it's a good day to cough. oh, no! bye, bye cough.

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♪ >> byron: finally tonight, honors and tributes for famed chicago bears linebacker dick butkus. the nfl hall of famer brought an explosive combination of speed and fierceness to the game, transforming the position. he was dubbed "the most feared man in the game" in a 1970s "sports illustrated" cover. hobbled by knee injuries, butkus was forced to retire after nine seasons. he later went on to a successful career as a sports broadcaster and actor. >> gentlemen, this is your home field. >> byron: movies like "necessary roughness." >> a third less calories and

less filling. >> byron: also solid comedy chops in miller lite commercials with other nfl greats like bubba smith of the baltimore colts. dick butkus was 80 years old. for a child of the '60s, dick butkus was must-see tv. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch full episodes on hulu. see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.