The sister of Utah YouTube mom Ruby Franke condemned her actions in a social media video of her own Wednesday, saying she was unaware of any child abuse happening in the family.
In a 9-minute video posted to her own YouTube channel, Bonnie Hoellien made her first comments since her sister and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested and chargedwith six counts felony child abuse.
"I am not my sister, I am not my sister's mistakes," Hoellien said.
With 1.4 million subscribers, Hoellien, like Franke, is a popular YouTube content producer whose description says she talks about "Family, Travel, Lifestyle, and FOOD!"
In the video Wednesday, Hoellien started by describing her feelings towards her sister and her sister's husband, Kevin.
"I am beyond disgusted and I feel like I... it makes me tremble, it makes me tremble because it is, it is unheard of," she said.
Hoellien claimed to have been cut off by her sister, Kevin and Hildebrandt, and had no idea what was happening with their ConneXions business. She said she knew "that they were off," but was unable to say anything due to being kept in the dark.
"I was not going to come out and publicly say that I don't like my sister and I don't like what she's doing and I think she's weird," Hoellien explained. "That is what we kept quiet about."
Later in the video, Hoellien said as time went on, she began to learn more and more, but could only legally do so much behind the scenes.
"We would talk in circles because nothing made sense, nothing made sense of what they were saying of what they were doing and it was off the wall," Hoellien said. "We didn't, we couldn't make sense of what they were doing and why and this is where my anger comes in."
She added that Kevin Franke could have done something, but failed to act.
"It was Kevin's job to check in on things and he did not," she said.
Hoellien claims that her sister, Kevin and Hildebrandt "have been destroying our lives offline for the last three years."
Watch full YouTube video below:
Franke and Hildebrandt made their first court appearance in southern Utah last week. During the hearing, the women spoke little as their attorneys waived reading of the charges and the women did not enter pleas.
