A Utah man has sued Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt, claiming his ex-wife became obsessed with the incarcerated mommy vloggers, and blew thousands on their phony counseling sessions.
Michael Tillerman blasted Hildebrandt’s and Franke’s joint parenting and lifestyle YouTube channel, ConneXions Classrooms, in his federal lawsuit — calling it an “organized criminal enterprise.”
Tillerman also accused his spouse of “masterfully implementing Hildebrandt’s and Franke’s “dark teachings to physically abuse and endanger the minor child” they shared, according to ABC 4.
The suit seeks an injunction barring Hildebrandt’s “enterprise” from continuing to operate. Tillerman is also asking $2.25 million in damages.
Hildebrandt offered marital and self-improvement classes and workshops for “lucrative fees,” it is alleged in the lawsuit. But the classes were “fraudulent” because they would “prey on individuals in vulnerable positions who were seeking legitimate mental health services.”
The suit, which also names Tillerman’s now ex-wife, further claimed the mommy vloggers indoctrinated victims into creating chaos at home.
Franke, a mother of six, and Hildebrandt, who has two kids, were arrested and pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in December 2023. They were sentenced to up to 30 years in state prison.
Tillerman claimed his former wife sought counseling from Hildebrandt, who convinced her to turn on their family — thanks to the vlogger’s “warped teachings to discipline and abuse” their child.
“Franke, Hildebrandt, and others known and unknown have been engaging in a widespread racketeering enterprise in pursuit of power and profit through the advertisement, sale, and provision of fraudulent services and products,” read the suit.
Franke, 43, and Hildebrandt, 55, caught the attention of authorities in 2020, after police rescued two of Franke’s malnourished and neglected children from Hildebrandt’s Utah home.
Investigators learned the children were forced to do manual labor, had food kept from them, and had their hands and feet bound. The kids were told they were evil and had to be punished, according to authorities.
