Recently, a popular YouTube channel called DaddyOFive—run by a man named Mike Martin—came under fire when people began to question whether or not the videos that Martin and wife posted of them “pulling pranks” on their five kids were actually child abuse. The videos included “hilarious” stuff like the parents swearing at the kids, dripping ink on the floor and blaming the kids for it, and forcing one child to slap another for some reason. Concerns from other YouTube personalities brought the DaddyOFive page to the attention of authorities, who began investigating Martin and his wife.
Now, Mashable is reporting that Rose Hall, the biological mother of two of the kids, has obtained emergency custody and has taken them out of Martin’s home. Naturally, because this is just that kind of story, Hall and her lawyer—who works for a firm called The Custody Place—have posted a YouTube video of their own in which they explain that the kids are safe and that they’re in a “deprogramming sort of mode.”
As for the Martins, they recently went on Good Morning America to apologize and tell their side of the story. Essentially, they claim that it was all an act, and they noted that whenever the kids would “start genuinely crying,” they would graciously stop the video and make sure that the child wanted to continue before moving on—as opposed to, for example, not making the kid cry at all.
This all seems like it’s far from over, but at least the kids—the two taken out of the home and the three still there—seem to be doing alright at the moment.