SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Police documents obtained by ABC4 show Kevin Franke, the estranged husband of the YouTube mother accused of child abuse, Ruby Franke, wanted to charge his daughter with burglary in early September.
Documents show a Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) caseworker returned to Franke’s Springville home the day after Ruby and Jodi Hildebrandt’s arrest in order to get necessary belongings for the two Franke children taken into state custody in Southern Utah. Items included clothing and personal belongings.
The caseworker had asked police to come along in order to keep the peace as they believed Kevin Franke may have been home and that he “may not be cooperative.”
When officers arrived at the Springville home, they found the caseworker, Franke’s eldest daughter Shari and other family members had already entered the home. Officers told the group they were only there to keep the peace and were not going to get involved in property disputes. Officers also reportedly told them to only take what they needed and leave behind anything that did not belong to them.
A few days later, Kevin Franke called Springville Police Department reporting a burglary at the home. Franke said the door had been kicked in damaged and several electronics, including electronic journals, were missing. He reportedly told police he believed Shari was to blame.
“I explained to Kevin that the door was breached when Springville Police Department served a warrant on the home earlier that week looking for juveniles,” A Springville officer reported. “I also explained to him that we conducted a keep the peace call with Shari at the home because she needed to retrieve essential items for [the children].”
Kevin, who reportedly admitted to not having been in the home for over a year, said Shari was not allowed to go into the house. Police reached out to Shari who confirmed she took the electronics but was happy to return them upon request. Police said Shari didn’t have any “intent to deprive” Kevin of the items, so they wouldn’t be pressing charges against Shari. After the call, Shari reportedly gave police three tablets, three cell phones, three cameras, a stack of written journals and three passports, all of which were returned to Kevin without incident.
Police reported explaining to Kevin that criminal charges would not be filed in the case and that it would be considered a civil issue.
“Kevin was displeased with this answer and advised that we would be hearing from his attorney,” reported the officer.
Kevin Franke is currently fighting for custody of the children, having appeared for a pretrial hearing at a Provo juvenile court in September. The hearing scheduled a pretrial date for Tuesday, Oct. 17 in person and a mediation set just days prior on Oct. 11.
Meanwhile, Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt await a date for their next hearing. The case was postponed until an undetermined date after Thursday, Oct. 5 in order to give attorneys for both the state and the defense to review “copious amounts of discovery.” No date has been set for the hearing and both Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt are still being held in jail.