Need to know
- Jodi Hildebrandt Ruby & Jodi: The worship of sin and influence
- Jody and her business partner Ruby Franke were reportedly sentenced to four convictions for child abuse and were sentenced to four to 30 years in prison last year
- “The idea that she could get out of the situation somehow was horrible to me,” Jesse said.
Jessi Hildebrandt is on a family trip to Utah to celebrate grandparents’ wedding anniversary when the 16-year-old fights with his mom while washing dishes.
“I'm just a 16-year-old,” Jessi, 32, told People. Jesse, who used their/their pronoun, said they refused to wash dishes and went downstairs to the basement and slammed the door.
Jesse's mom allegedly did not return to California without them, and soon after, Jesse moved full-time to the home of his aunt therapist Jodi Hildebrandt in the late 2000s.
“I was deeply frustrated, incredible anger and anxiety,” said Jesse, a grown-up Mormon. “I just knew I was basically out of school, I was always rooted, I was always in trouble. I thought at first, 'OK,' Well, Jody might be able to help. Maybe that's the answer to my prayers. She's a professional. She's my aunt. I'm going to comply.”
Soon after, “She got me involved in the Jody method,” Jessi appeared in the four-part documentary Ruby & Jodi: The worship of sin and influencepremiered on ID on Monday, September 1st.
The documentaries examine the abusive partnership between Jodi Hildebrand and her business partner Ruby Franke, after 8 passengerswith her ex-husband Kevin Franke.
Jessi Hildebrandt.
Investigation Discovery/YouTube
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It explores Jody's rise in the Mormon community through her popular connection program and how the program has made her a six-year-old mother, Franke, and sets the foundation for the twisted bonds they share.
The duo was arrested in August 2023 after Frank's 12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt's home, where he was tied and starved to his neighbor's house for help.
Neighbors called 911, causing local police to find Franke's 9-year-old daughter captured in similar circumstances. Authorities said the two women had tortured Frank's two youngest children, including dressing up the wounds of children with peppers and honey, forcing them to use small food or water for hours in the stuffy heat, and then falling on the head of their young son underwater.
The two women were eventually sentenced to four convictions of child abuse and sentenced to four to 30 years in prison last year, people reported.
“It's the same thing she did to me, she just made improvements to me and then continued to do better with two of the kids,” Jesse said. “It's psychological warfare, emotionally, physically. I think what's scary about me is that I think she believes in that. I think she believes in her insanity, and I think it makes her even more dangerous.”
Jesse said that after moving in with the mother of two, Jody quickly began to “eliminate” her identity, self-awareness and reality.
They were forced to cut their hair, banned from makeup, playing piano and studying.
“She focused on giving me the most recognized things and took them away from me,” they said. “At the time, even if I was inside, I didn't know it was abuse. I don't think the reason it didn't work was because I had some flaws, I didn't work hard enough, I wasn't mentally, faithful, loyal enough that I was manipulating and lying, and I didn't even know what that was what I was doing.”
“I'm grateful that Jody is helping me because she's fighting for my soul,” Jesse said. “And I believe. She will use this phrase with me often, superb manipulator. My conclusion is that I have to be a good manipulator and liar, and I don't even know I'm doing it.”
Ruby Franke and Kevin Franke and their 6 children.
Truth / Instagram mom
Jesse was not allowed to close the bathroom door and assigned a seven-minute shower.
“I don't allow tampons because she's sure I'm a sex addict and I'm masturbating with them,” Jesse said.
The so-called torture involves being stuck in the mouth by pipes in the middle of the winter in Utah, sleeping on Jody's balcony, and being forced to run for hours at a time. Jesse said: “In her own words, she wanted to make my life so uncomfortable that she forced sin.”
“A lot of the things she told me about is that Satan is working through you,” Jesse said. “Jesus is literally, not symbolically, but through her literally. I should be grateful for it because she saved me from Satan. It was a struggle for my soul. I believe all this is so full and thorough that I deserve it, God is testing me.”
After living there for nearly a year, Jesse said they ran away and ended up in a homeless shelter and eventually headed to Los Angeles where they became tattoo artists. Jesse now lives in Berlin, Germany.
“In the shelter and here, it's a lot of iterations of myself and many chapters and stages,” they said. “It feels like I've had a lot of life until now.”
“I don't want to put too many bows and arrows on it, but I mean, the consequences of living with Jody every day,” Jesse said. “My experience has serious, complicated PTSD from the experience that affects me every day.”
Ruby & Jodi: Crime and Influence Official Trailer | ID
Jesse said they continued to talk about Jody because “I just want to see her responsible. I hope she will never be able to contact any vulnerable people again. I hope she will never be able to visit anyone again.”
The idea of Jody leaving the prison one day “always come to my mind.”
“The idea that she could get out of something is terrible to me,” Jesse said. “She has no moral framework. I think she believes in her delusions and thinks she is actually doing God's work.”
In March, Jodi Hildebrandt challenged her beliefs to demand invalid lawyers.
Her attorney could not be contacted for comment.
Four-part documentary Ruby & Jodi: The worship of sin and influencepremiered on ID on Monday, September 1st.
If you suspect child abuse, call ChildHelp National Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453 or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available in over 170 languages on 24/7.