Parents emotionally abuse children for "Prank" youtube channel

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I am SO SO relieved that Cody and Emma are out of that house.

However, I am still genuinely concerned for the well-being of the remaining three kids - especially now. :/

I am equally concerned!
 
I wish I hadn't watched the videos. I feel physically ill.
 
I wish I hadn't watched the videos. I feel physically ill.

It is frightening how many views those videos got and that the family got PAID for abusing their children. Disgusting.

I only watched a recap of one of the videos and I couldn't even get through that...I do NOT recommend watching any of the videos, as I also am physically sickened from watching a short clip.

Those poor children. I hope they get the help they need.

Any chance the 'parents' could face charges for this?
 
Parents do things like this all the time, although this case may be more extreme. I just don't think it's funny at all to cause distress to a child. Including in "mild" ways like telling them you've eaten all their Halloween candy. Parents can be big bullies sometimes. [emoji35]
 
We "prank" our kids regularly around here and they "prank" us back, they are 8 and 10, but our pranks include things like switching out the bags in the cereal boxes, or putting Saran Wrap over the lid of something and putting the cap back on, my personal favorite - my 10 year old son, who of course claims he can never see any messes around the house to clean up, like a pair of his shoes laying in the middle of my living room floor, but can spot a penny on the ground in the parking lot of the grocery store from 20 yards away...we'll glue a coin down by the curb of our house. He's fallen for that I don't know how many times! Our pranks always crack us up and never cause any foul language (ok maybe from me COMPLETELY under my breath if the kids get me good[emoji2]) never screaming or yelling, never any crying. It's all done in complete good fun. What these parents did in no way, shape, or form, should even be called "pranking" in my opinion.


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We "prank" our kids regularly around here and they "prank" us back, they are 8 and 10, but our pranks include things like switching out the bags in the cereal boxes, or putting Saran Wrap over the lid of something and putting the cap back on, my personal favorite - my 10 year old son, who of course claims he can never see any messes around the house to clean up, like a pair of his shoes laying in the middle of my living room floor, but can spot a penny on the ground in the parking lot of the grocery store from 20 yards away...we'll glue a coin down by the curb of our house. He's fallen for that I don't know how many times! Our pranks always crack us up and never cause any foul language (ok maybe from me COMPLETELY under my breath if the kids get me good[emoji2]) never screaming or yelling, never any crying. It's all done in complete good fun. What these parents did in no way, shape, or form, should even be called "pranking" in my opinion.


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Yes, there is a huge difference between fun pranks people enjoy together and "pranks" that cause fear, sadness, distress, distrust, embarrassment, etc.

Also, these "pranks" depend on the power differential, while the pranks you describe do not need to, and you allow them to go both ways.

JMO
 
I was raised by a mother who did these kind of things, though not as pranks but parenting style. Once, around the age of 7 or 8, my sister and I got up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons. On the kitchen counter there was a small package of maybe 8 or so colorful, fruit shaped candy slices. It was a kind of candy we'd never really seen before. Something a previous night's dinner guest had brought as a gift, I suppose. We proceeded to eat them. When mom got up she went to make coffee and saw the empty package on the counter. She calmly turned to us and said "who ate the rat poison?" She scurried around the kitchen looking for "antidotes" all the while worrying out loud about whether she should call poison control or an ambulance, wondering how she would tell our friends we'd died, who would take care of our little kitten, etc., etc. My five year old sister and I were in terrified tears by the time she stopped and told us that it was just candy and she wanted us to understand we weren't to eat stuff that didn't belong to us. To this day, 45 years later, I still think of that morning and feel feelings of sadness and shame every time I see a package of that particular candy even though as an adult I know her actions were crazy and not my fault. Sadly, I could fill this entire forum with little stories like that. I wish they'd taken all the kids and put them with someone else. I noticed in one of the videos the dad "justifying" his and mom's behavior with the pranks. He asks the kids why they think the public is so outraged and one of the boys says "they're just jealous, they're haters". It's obvious those kids are on the fast track to becoming the same sort of parents if there is not some real intervention. I haven't repeated the pattern in my life because I got some help so they too could be rescued and the next generation of kids spared.
 
I saw a video by them before, it made me so sad for that poor little boy. It seems he's picked on the most, and I feel so bad for him. I remember being a young girl and my dad would get angry and lose his temper (he never got abusive just yelled and scared us a bit) I can't imagine what those poor kids go through and how scared they must be. They said the kids were in on it and liked being in the videos... that's not acting, those children are genuinely scared and disturbed.
 
It is frightening how many views those videos got and that the family got PAID for abusing their children. Disgusting.

I only watched a recap of one of the videos and I couldn't even get through that...I do NOT recommend watching any of the videos, as I also am physically sickened from watching a short clip.

Those poor children. I hope they get the help they need.

Any chance the 'parents' could face charges for this?

Me too. I found another one. A compilation of heir signing out and rage reaped the little boy. I can't believe this or that they video taped and published it. Or that they weren't investigated sooner.

Those kids are valiantly trying to be a part of that family. That man is filled with rage. God knows what happens off camera. The woman is a sadist.

They need to face charges for this:


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZY5Y...X9SWr2VkTDP605NmAU7fKvxLHA9tFMxw4nvow7tNK0VQG
 
I saw a video by them before, it made me so sad for that poor little boy. It seems he's picked on the most, and I feel so bad for him. I remember being a young girl and my dad would get angry and lose his temper (he never got abusive just yelled and scared us a bit) I can't imagine what those poor kids go through and how scared they must be. They said the kids were in on it and liked being in the videos... that's not acting, those children are genuinely scared and disturbed.

Right. How can the school-called kid actors be such phenomenal actors while the creepy "parents" can't act their way out of a paper bag as their ridiculous "apology" videos show.
 
I was raised by a mother who did these kind of things, though not as pranks but parenting style. Once, around the age of 7 or 8, my sister and I got up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons. On the kitchen counter there was a small package of maybe 8 or so colorful, fruit shaped candy slices. It was a kind of candy we'd never really seen before. Something a previous night's dinner guest had brought as a gift, I suppose. We proceeded to eat them. When mom got up she went to make coffee and saw the empty package on the counter. She calmly turned to us and said "who ate the rat poison?" She scurried around the kitchen looking for "antidotes" all the while worrying out loud about whether she should call poison control or an ambulance, wondering how she would tell our friends we'd died, who would take care of our little kitten, etc., etc. My five year old sister and I were in terrified tears by the time she stopped and told us that it was just candy and she wanted us to understand we weren't to eat stuff that didn't belong to us. To this day, 45 years later, I still think of that morning and feel feelings of sadness and shame every time I see a package of that particular candy even though as an adult I know her actions were crazy and not my fault. Sadly, I could fill this entire forum with little stories like that. I wish they'd taken all the kids and put them with someone else. I noticed in one of the videos the dad "justifying" his and mom's behavior with the pranks. He asks the kids why they think the public is so outraged and one of the boys says "they're just jealous, they're haters". It's obvious those kids are on the fast track to becoming the same sort of parents if there is not some real intervention. I haven't repeated the pattern in my life because I got some help so they too could be rescued and the next generation of kids spared.

These kids have been clearly traumatized. If they don't have or develop depression/anxiety disorders it will be a miracle.

They were told horrible things about their mom and made to feel she abandoned them. So they were so intent on being accepted by dad and his family. Watching carefull you can see how children can be enlisted to single out and help abuse a sibling. Terrible.

I wish there was a way to tell that little man that there's nothing wrong with him. He's a great, sweet kid who seems to try hard and do his best.
 
Let's even say for the sake of argument that the videos are 100% scripted/acted as Mike Martin, the father, at one point claimed. How is that still ok? Child abuse is normalized and depicted as "funny" in these videos which is child abuse in and of itself regardless of any pre-planning on the part of the parents. Makes no difference if the kids were "in on it" or not - children were exploited either way.

Also, my understanding is that the "DaddyOFive" YouTube channel was monetized. It's bad enough that there are people out there who have the compulsion to film and upload child abuse but how did sponsors not take note of the content at some point?

 
Cody, 9, was often the target of the pranks. In one video, Cody cries when his new computer tablet is destroyed – only to find out that it was a prank to see his reaction. His father, he learns at the end of the clip, had bought him another new one.

In a video posted on April 12, Michael Martin screams at Cody for spilling ink, which left the boy sobbing. Later, Heather Martin, Cody’s stepmother, reveals that she used invisible ink to make it appear that there was a stain.

:scared:

A hearing on the protective order will be held on Friday.

http://people.com/crime/controversi...stody-of-2-children-featured-in-prank-videos/
 
Cody, 9, was often the target of the pranks. In one video, Cody cries when his new computer tablet is destroyed – only to find out that it was a prank to see his reaction. His father, he learns at the end of the clip, had bought him another new one.

In a video posted on April 12, Michael Martin screams at Cody for spilling ink, which left the boy sobbing. Later, Heather Martin, Cody’s stepmother, reveals that she used invisible ink to make it appear that there was a stain.

:scared:

A hearing on the protective order will be held on Friday.

http://people.com/crime/controversi...stody-of-2-children-featured-in-prank-videos/

There is nothing funny about these people and I do not know how they can actually think they were. Despicable.
 
I wish I hadn't watched the videos. I feel physically ill.
I feel ill and I only watched about 20 seconds. That little boy was in such distress.

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Weblseuths is mentioned in this article about online sleuthing.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/feature...yofive-citizen-detectives-20170504-story.html

DaddyOFive' outrage indicative of larger trend of internet sleuthing
Frederick County couple's YouTube videos of what they called "pranks" on their children have sparked a viral outrage in recent weeks, leading people from across the globe to notify law enforcement and media outlets and launch investigations of their own of what they saw as abuse.

...More broadly, sites and communities like Websleuths...
 
I feel ill and I only watched about 20 seconds. That little boy was in such distress.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

And it went on and on and on for months. Just the cruelest bullying, taunting and tormenting of that child and his sister.
 

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