Jodi Hildebrandt, Convicted of Child Abuse with Family Vlogger Ruby Franke, Waged ‘Psychological Warfare’: Niece

Jessi Hildebrandt was on a family trip to Utah to celebrate their grandparents’ wedding anniversary when, at 16, they got into an argument with their mom over washing dishes.

“I was just a 16-year-old bratty teenager,” Jessi, now 32, tells PEOPLE. Jessi, who uses they/them pronouns, says they refused to wash the dishes, went downstairs to the basement, and slammed the door.

Their mom reportedly went back to California without them, and soon after, Jessi moved full-time to Utah to live with their aunt, therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, in the late 2000s.

“I was deeply depressed, incredibly angry, and anxious,” Jessi says, adding that they grew up as a devout Mormon. “I just knew that I had basically dropped out of school, I was grounded all the time, I was always in trouble. At first, I thought, ‘Maybe Jodi can help. Maybe this is the answer to my prayer. She’s a professional. She’s my aunt. I’m going to be compliant.’”

It didn’t take long before “she got me involved in the Jodi method,” Jessi says. They appear in the four-part docuseries Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence, premiering Monday, Sept. 1 at 9/8c on ID.

The series explores the abusive partnership between Jodi Hildebrandt and her business partner Ruby Franke, who became well-known in 2015 when she started her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, with her ex-husband, Kevin Franke.

It shows how Jodi gained influence in the Mormon community through her ConneXions program and eventually met Franke, a mother of six. Their connection led to abusive behavior that ended in criminal charges.

The two women were arrested in August 2023 after Franke’s 12-year-old son escaped Hildebrandt’s home, where he was tied up and starved, and ran to a neighbor for help. The neighbor called 911, and authorities found Franke’s 9-year-old daughter in a similar situation. Investigators said the women tortured the children, including using cayenne pepper and honey on wounds, forcing them to work long hours in extreme heat with little food or water, and submerging the youngest son’s head underwater.

Both were sentenced to prison for four convictions of child abuse, with terms ranging from four to 30 years.

“It’s the same stuff she was doing to me; she just got better at it and continued it with two of those kids,” Jessi says. They spent nearly a year living with Jodi before escaping. “It’s psychological warfare—emotional, physical. The scariest part is I think she believes her insanity, which makes her even more dangerous.”

Jessi says Jodi quickly began undermining their identity, sense of self, and sense of reality.

They were forced to cut their hair and were not allowed to wear makeup, play the piano, or study.

“She focused on the things that gave me identity and took them from me,” Jessi says. “Even while I was in it, I didn’t know this was abuse. I thought it was my fault for not being spiritual or faithful enough, or that I was manipulating and lying without realizing it.”

Jessi believed Jodi was saving their soul. “I trusted whatever Jodi said because I didn’t know what was real,” they explain.

Jessi wasn’t allowed to close the bathroom door and had only seven minutes to shower. “I wasn’t allowed to use tampons because she thought I was a sex addict,” they say.

They were also reportedly duct-taped across the mouth, forced to sleep outside in winter, and made to run for hours. “She wanted to make my life uncomfortable to force the sin out,” Jessi recalls.

“She would tell me Satan was working through me and that Jesus was working through her. I believed I deserved this and that God was testing me. If I survived, I would be a good, righteous Mormon child.”

After almost a year, Jessi ran away and stayed in a homeless shelter before eventually moving to Los Angeles, where they became a tattoo artist. They now live in Berlin, Germany.

“Between the shelter and now, I’ve gone through many versions of myself,” Jessi says. “It feels like I’ve had many lifetimes between 17 and now.”

“I still deal with the after-effects of living with Jodi every day,” they add. “I have severe, complex PTSD from that experience.”

Jessi continues to speak out because “I want to see her held accountable. I want her to never have access to any vulnerable person again.” The thought of Jodi being released from prison “is always in the back of my mind.”

“The idea that she could get out is terrifying,” Jessi says. “She has no moral framework. I think she believes her delusions and that she’s doing God’s work.”

In March, Jodi Hildebrandt challenged her conviction, claiming ineffective counsel, per KTVX.