Ruby Franke's husband files for divorce 3 months after the YouTuber was arrested on child abuse charges
- Ruby Franke's husband filed for divorce this week following her arrest on child abuse charges.
- Kevin Franke has tried to distance himself from his wife in the aftermath of her arrest.
Kevin Franke — the husband of former YouTuber Ruby Franke — filed for divorce from his wife this week, approximately three months after she was arrested and later charged with six counts of child abuse.
According to the court docket viewed by Business Insider, Kevin Franke filed for divorce from his wife of several years on Thursday in Utah district court.
An attorney for Kevin Franke did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment. Ruby Franke did not have a divorce attorney listed.
Divorce records are private in Utah, but a domestic relations injunction filed Thursday and obtained by NBC News forbids the spouses from harassing each other, committing domestic violence against one another or their kids, or disparaging each other in front of their children, the outlet reported.
The couple share six children and rose to prominence with their controversial family YouTube vlog "8 Passengers."
Kevin Franke's divorce filing comes about three months after Ruby Franke and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested and later charged with six felony counts of child abuse each.
In a September probable cause affidavit, authorities said Franke's 12-year-old son climbed out a window of Hildebrandt's home and ran to a neighbor's house where he asked for food and water. The neighbors noticed the boy had duct tape on his ankles and called the police.
Authorities later noted that the boy had "severe" wounds and appeared malnourished, according to the affidavit.
Franke's 10-year-old daughter was later discovered at Hildebrandt's residence and authorities said she also appeared malnourished, authorities said.
Police said Ruby Franke filmed a YouTube video in Hildebrandt's home two days before her son's escape, suggesting she was aware of the "abuse, malnourishment, and neglect."
Both Franke and Hildebrandt are being held without bail. Neither have entered pleas yet.
Randy Kester, an attorney for Kevin Franke, told Good Morning America in September that the couple had been separated for more than a year at "Ruby's directive."
"Kevin did not want to be separated," Kester told Today later that month. "He wanted to work through concerns as a family. There was never any formal, written decree of separate maintenance or separation agreement. The separation was under terms proscribed by Ruby and Jodi Hildebrandt."
In the aftermath of her arrest, Ruby Franke's estranged sisters posted videos denouncing her relationship with Hildebrandt and blaming Kevin Franke for failing to intervene.
Bonnie Hoellein said it was Kevin Franke's "job to check in on things and he did not."Kester responded to the sisters' statements by telling NBC that while Kevin Franke admits he was "out of the loop" and had not had any contact with the children, he is more interested in rebuilding relationships with his children than pointing fingers.Ruby Franke continues to be held without bail until her next court hearing which has yet to be scheduled.