Daddyofive Couple Sentenced to Five Years Probation for Child Neglect
Michael and Heather Martin, the couple behind the DaddyOFive YouTube channel, have been sentenced to 5 years probation for filming brutal pranks and violent challenges starring their own children.
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00:00 Michael and Heather Martin, the couple behind the Daddy of 5 YouTube channel, have been
00:04 sentenced to five years probation for filming brutal pranks and violent challenges starring
00:09 their own children.
00:10 Welcome back to What's Trending, I'm Adam Bozarth.
00:13 Daddy of 5 seemed like a lot of other family vlogs out there, except for one big difference.
00:18 Heather and Michael often filmed videos where they would prank their five children.
00:23 One video involved the two parents pouring disappearing ink on the carpet and blaming
00:27 their 10-year-old son Cody.
00:29 How did you do that?
00:32 I swear.
00:33 We're going to sell all your Pokemon cards.
00:36 We're going to sell your Xbox.
00:38 I need a new Xbox!
00:40 Stop wiping!
00:41 You just got owned.
00:43 It's just a prank, bruh.
00:47 This is just one video of many that were featured on the Daddy of 5 channel.
00:51 Other videos involved the children slapping each other for failing at challenges.
00:55 Another prank video involved staging a home invasion, which ended with Michael pointing
01:00 a gun at one of the children disguised as a burglar.
01:03 The videos were brought to mainstream attention by YouTube commentator Philip DeFranco.
01:07 And if we look past the screaming and cursing at the kids, there's also the physical elements.
01:11 In a video they called "Tablet Destruction Prank," at one point the dad pushes Cody.
01:15 That sends him face-first into a bookshelf, and then we see later in the video his pillow
01:18 is covered with blood.
01:20 Many people reported the Daddy of 5 channel to YouTube and to law enforcement for possible
01:24 child abuse.
01:25 A month later, Cody and Emma, the two youngest children, who are also Michael's biological
01:30 children, were back in the custody of their biological mother, Rose Hall.
01:34 However, the investigation into the Martin family continued.
01:37 According to BuzzFeed, after the Martins and their five children underwent psychological
01:41 evaluations, it was found that Cody and Emma suffered mental injury as a result of the
01:47 videos.
01:48 The three older children, all Heather's biological children, were found to have suffered no mental
01:52 injury associated with the videos.
01:54 As for Heather and Michael, evaluations showed that there was an extreme lapse in judgment,
01:59 but that there was no intention to injure the children.
02:02 With the massive amount of evidence against them, the Martins struck a plea deal.
02:06 Both Heather and Michael are sentenced to five years probation.
02:09 Pending their custody case, the Martins have also been ordered to not contact Emma or Cody,
02:15 nor may they post any videos of them to social media.
02:18 However, the Martins could be returning to YouTube.
02:21 The Martins' attorney, Steven Tully, said that it was a possibility that the family
02:25 would continue to post videos of themselves and their three other children, adding, "Just
02:30 not in the same fashion as before."
02:32 So, what do you think of the Daddy of Five case?
02:34 Let us know in the COMMENTS section below.
02:37 For more stories like these, go to whatstrending.com.