{"id":51212,"date":"2025-08-07T21:12:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T21:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/51212\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T21:12:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T21:12:12","slug":"kevin-franke-files-lawsuit-against-jodi-hildebrandt-over-alleged-negligence-in-mental-health-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/51212\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Franke files lawsuit against Jodi Hildebrandt over alleged negligence in mental health treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 Kevin Franke filed a lawsuit against Jodi Hildebrandt for negligence after experiencing what his lawyers described as \u201cunnecessary, damaging mental health treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit is the latest development in a long-winding series of events involving Hildebrandt and the Franke family<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jodi Hildebrandt, 56, pleaded guilty<\/a> to four counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony, in Feb. 2024, for her treatment of four of the Franke\u2019s children. Ruby Franke, Kevin Franke\u2019s wife, was given an identical sentence of four consecutive terms of one to 15 years each in the Utah State Prison.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ruby Franke (left) and Jodi Hildebrandt (right) as they separate enter the Fifth District Court House in St. George. (St. George News)<\/p>\n

Hildebrandt was licensed as a clinical mental health counselor when she was treating Kevin Franke in 2022, though her license was revoked by the Utah State Division of Professional Licensing on May 10, 2024, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Kevin Franke\u2019s claims for damages exceed $300,000.<\/p>\n

Related: 1 year since Ruby Franke, Jodi Hildebrandt arrested for child abuse: Where the case stands<\/a>
\nHildebrandt\u2019s alleged negligence<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, Hildebrandt acted negligently in her practice by failing to professionally diagnose patients, failing to explain said diagnoses, and not disclosing how much the diagnosis \u201cwarranted the applied treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The alleged negligence also included failure to \u201cinstitute an appropriate method of treatment,\u201d misdiagnosing patients\u2019 conditions, and applying \u201cunprofessional, inappropriate and improper methods of treatment,\u201d according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Among \u201cinappropriate\u201d behaviors, Franke cited Hildebrandt\u2019s conflicting relationship with his family and even other patients. The suit highlighted the criminal, \u201cdetrimental,\u201d treatment of the Franke children.<\/p>\n

Kevin Franke and his lawyers outlined how Hildebrandt\u2019s relationship with Ruby Franke, including disclosing confidential information and providing advice that did not align with Kevin Franke\u2019s best interests, was negligent in nature.<\/p>\n

It was also noted Hildebrandt represented herself as a psychologist, \u201cfor which she was not licensed.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSL legal analyst Greg Skordas said it\u2019s not common to see a therapist sued in Utah. He said the facts of the case are very serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s suing her because at the time the acts occurred, she held herself out as sometimes even a psychologist, but held herself out as a medical therapist and therefore, under the Medical Malpractice Act, he can sue her as a as a medical professional,\u201d Skordas said.<\/p>\n

Hildebrandt\u2019s actions were described as \u201cdishonest and designed to benefit the self-interest of Ms. Hildebrandt and was contrary to the mental health and best interests of her patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: New law aims to crack down on unlicensed life coaches practicing mental health therapy\u00a0<\/a>
\nHildebrandt\u2019s treatment: A timeline<\/p>\n

Spring of 2022: According to the suit, Hildebrandt was acting as a clinical mental health counselor for Kevin Franke through her business, ConneXions. The two were reportedly introduced when Ruby Franke began associating with Hildebrandt.<\/p>\n

She advised Kevin Franke without any formal protocol, \u201cdiagnosing\u201d him as \u201cbeing lustful, narcissistic, manipulative, deceptive, controlling and selfish,\u201d and told him he needed to \u201covercome these adverse\u201d conditions.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit said in her position, Hildebrandt \u201cthereby assumed a heightened position of trust,\u201d advising Kevin Franke to cut off communication with the Franke children as he \u201cmight lead them to adopt these same negative behaviors and conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

July 20th, 2022: Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke wanted to \u201cprotect the children and preserve the marriage and family,\u201d by removing Kevin Franke and the couple\u2019s 17-year-old son, from the family home. Their son was also advised to cut off communication with the family, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Following their removal from the family, Kevin Franke and his son continued paying Hildebrandt for her services. Kevin Franke was enrolled in Hildebrandt\u2019s online men\u2019s group therapy and relied upon her expertise.<\/p>\n

Franke said he paid between $300 and $375 monthly to join Hildebrandt\u2019s men\u2019s group therapy.<\/p>\n

He disclosed in the suit that Hildebrandt directed other men in the support group to threaten Kevin Franke that if he did not change and comply with Hildebrandt\u2019s teachings, his wife, Ruby, would divorce him.<\/p>\n

This caused Kevin Franke to withhold communication from Ruby Franke and their children, while Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke acted criminally against the Franke children.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit said Hildebrandt encouraged Kevin Franke to communicate with his wife twice, according to the lawsuit. Once was in Feb. 2023, and the other in June 2023.<\/p>\n

Each time, Hildebrandt told Kevin Franke to write a letter listing everything he did that was \u201cselfish, entitled, narcissistic, lustful and manipulative.\u201d Then, Ruby Franke was advised to use the letters for leverage in divorce proceedings should they arise.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween August 2022 and August 2023, (Hildebrandt) was extremely mentally abusive to Kevin as he participated in an online men\u2019s group therapy ran by (Hildebrandt).\u201d Kevin Franke said his participation totaled over 300 hours.<\/p>\n

The suit continued on, saying Hildebrandt \u201cberated and belittled Kevin,\u201d and accused him of being a \u201clover of darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sept. 2022: Kevin Franke said Hildebrandt told him he was unworthy to hold a temple recommend to enter temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer feedback and comments ultimately led Kevin to not attend a meeting to renew his temple recommend in 2023, after (Hildebrandt) convinced him that he was not worthy and would be a hypocrite if he attempted to renew the recommend,\u201d the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n

The suit states that failing to renew his recommend led to Kevin Franke being fired from his job at Brigham Young University, as it was a requirement for his employment.<\/p>\n

From May of 2023 until August 2023: The lawsuit stated that Hildebrandt and Ruby Franke had the Franke children living at Hildebrandt\u2019s home in Ivins, Utah, but had never disclosed it to Kevin Franke.<\/p>\n

July 26, 2023: Hildebrandt announced she was \u201csuspending Kevin\u2019s services with her,\u201d and said God told her he \u201cneeded absolute solitude to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a strong case because she\u2019s admitted the conduct of virtually everything that she\u2019s accused of doing here,\u201d Skordas said. \u201cThe problem with a case like this is always, is there money? Is there something to collect? I mean, she had a sizable estate. Is that still around? Does she still have assets? Is there something that can be done here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Contributing: Shelby Lofton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 Kevin Franke filed a lawsuit against Jodi Hildebrandt for negligence after experiencing what his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[102,2294,13805,13802,1906,6623,101,13804,13803,56,54,55,1068],"class_list":{"0":"post-51212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-home","10":"tag-ksltv-com","11":"tag-ksltv-com-utah-news","12":"tag-mental-health","13":"tag-mentalhealth","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-talk-and-community","16":"tag-traffic","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unitedkingdom","20":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}