Ruby Franke's husband blames her new YouTube costar for wrecking their marriage and feels 'deceived', lawyer says

• Ruby Franke's husband has distanced himself further from the child-abuse allegations she is facing.
• Franke's attorney said he was "manipulated" by Ruby's YouTuber partner Jodi Hildebrandt.
• He said Hildebrandt was the "spearhead" that destroyed the Frankes' marriage.

Ruby Franke's husband is further distancing himself from the child abuse allegations his wife is facing, placing the blame for the breakdown of their marriage on her YouTube partner.

Kevin Franke's attorney Randy Kester said in a new interview that his client was "manipulated" by Jodi Hildebrandt, who was the "spearhead" that destroyed their marriage.

Kester told Law&Crime Network on Tuesday that Franke's last conversation with his wife was on Friday, during which he "kind of came to his senses about how he'd been manipulated and deceived."

Ruby Franke was arrested on Wednesday, August 30, alongside Hildebrandt. The two, who ran a YouTube channel together, were charged with six felony child abuse counts.

Police described a harrowing escape by the Frankes' 12-year-old son's at Hildebrandt's home in Ivins, Utah. An affidavit also described the emaciated and wounded appearance of the boy as well as his sister, who was found at the house afterwards.

The Frankes have six children together. But Kester previously said in another interview with "Good Morning America" that Kevin and Ruby had been living separately for 13 months.

He said his client had no idea about anything untoward going on, and that he was "distraught" at hearing the abuse allegations.. 

In the latest interview, Kester placed the blame of the Frankes' separation on Hildebrandt, and suggested she had "manipulated" both of them. He said Frank was "trying to make sense out of what's happened to him in the last 13 months" and was "coming out of a fog."

According to Kester, Franke wasn't even aware his children were living in Ivins with Hildebrandt. (The Frankes' family home was in Springville.)

Kester didn't go into details about the Frankes' separation, but said it involved "a difference of opinion about their family."

Ruby Franke teamed up with Hildebrandt around the same time she stopped posting on the Frankes' family YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which she had run with Kevin Franke.

She then became the cohost on Hildebrandt's family-counseling channel called ConneXions. Kevin Franke appeared from time to time, but has been absent since last year. 

Kester said that Franke had been following every request his wife made, which he now believes came from Hildebrandt.

"No physical abuse had never been a part of their family," Kester said. "But lot of the dynamics between he and his wife changed after Jodi Hildebrandt partnered up with Ruby."

When Kester was asked why Franke had not noticed his children were being abused, he said the father had been "raked over the coals" for that in the media.

"But what people don't understand is that he was trying to preserve his marriage," Kester said. "He was taking direction from her. She's the one who asked him to leave the house."

Ruby Franke told Kevin "everything was blissful at home," Kester said, and "it was so much better without him."

"Kevin never had any reason to believe that his children were being abused," Kester said. "If he had even one inkling that his kids were being abused and that this separation wasn't for any other purpose than to figure out a way between he and Ruby to reunite their family, he would've been down there in two seconds.

"He just simply does not condone physical violence or that kind of treatment of children or anyone," he said.

Kester said his client was "a good dad," and emphasized again that his focus was getting custody of his children.

Utah authorities took custody of the Frankes' children after the arrest. It is unclear what happened next, as the court system kept the details confidential, citing the childrens' need to privacy.

Kester said he and Kevin Franke were working with the authorities to "take direction from them about what they feel would be necessary to heal his family."

"And try to figure out a way, if possible, to reunify the family."