His education advice was followed by nearly 2.5 million subscribers.
Ruby Franke, a parenting influencer who advocated strict parenting, has been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for abusing her children, according to Sky News.
The mother of six children and her collaborator Jodi Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four of the six counts of abuse against them.
Last September, the 42-year-old mother was arrested after her 12-year-old child, sickly and hungry, escaped through the window of the family home to go to a neighbor's house.
“The miner appeared emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and construction tape around his extremities.
The minor asked for food and water,” detailed the authorities.
Another child “in similar physical conditions of malnutrition” was also found by the police in the residence.
Both had to be taken to hospital.
Also read “He asked for food”: an American influencer mother arrested for child abuse
During the investigation, authorities discovered that she was also abusing her other children.
During her hearing, Ruby Franke admitted to having kicked one of her sons with boots, or to having held his head underwater while blocking his mouth and nose with her hands.
Forced to jump into a cactus
The two accused also admitted to having forced the 12-year-old boy to carry out hours of physical work in the garden in the middle of summer without giving him water or food, causing dehydration and severe sunburn.
Jodi Hildebrandt also admitted to forcing Franke's youngest daughter to repeatedly jump into a cactus and run barefoot on dirt roads until she had blisters.
The boy also told police that his mother's colleague put cayenne pepper on his wounds to treat his numerous cuts.
“I will forever mourn the fact that I hurt your fragile souls.
My willingness to sacrifice everything for you has been masterfully manipulated into something very ugly,” she told her children who were absent during the hearing.
Ruby Franke rose to prominence on social media with her husband Kevin through their YouTube channel named “8 Passengers,” where they promoted strict educational rules.
The channel has since been deactivated by the platform and her husband has filed for divorce.