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distress. One such video involved Cody, the second youngest child, being thrown through a doorway by Jake and against a bookcase by Mike; he was left with what appeared to be injuries to his face. Another video involved Alex, the youngest, being instructed by Mike to slap Emma, the middle child (who is Cody's biological sister), across the face for failing to perform a
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Mike and
Heather have deleted all of the videos on their website, stating "In order to move on with the healing process from the 2017 events, we have AGREED WILLINGLY to remove our videos, from even this site. For the sake and well being of our family Mike and I feel it is best that we take a long break from the public spotlight."
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channel just for fun." The channel focused on Mike, Heather and their five children, whose names are Jake, Ryan, Emma, Cody, and Alex. Mike and
Heather Martin have since had a child together since the channel's termination. Jake, Ryan and Alex are Heather's children from a previous marriage. Cody and
435:
Despite their second attempt at publishing content on YouTube being met with termination, for a limited time, Mike and
Heather continued to post videos on their official website behind a monthly $ 5 subscription fee, and continued streaming gaming videos on their Twitch channel. As of January 2019,
405:
channel for new videos and updates. In July 2017, Mike's channel and
Heather's channel had both around 730,000 subscribers and 4.7 million video views, and around 110,000 subscribers and 2.1 million video views, respectively. Later, they changed their channel name to FamilyOFive after receiving the
281:
Created in 2015, the channel achieved success earning up to 176 million video views and around 750,000 subscribers at its peak. However, after the aforementioned controversy, all videos on the channel were removed, and Mike and
Heather stopped producing videos on the channel, aside from a formal
369:
The family became the center of abuse claims following these prank videos which became gradually more extreme, with many videos involving Mike encouraging his eldest child, Jake, to physically and mentally abuse his younger siblings, often to the point of severe injury and intense psychological
426:
The FamilyOFive channel, a new outlet for Mike and
Heather's videos created while they were on probation, re-instituted the questionable pattern of behavior regarding abuse of Jake, Ryan, Emma, Cody and Alex featured in the videos. The channel was subsequently terminated on July 18, 2018, for
383:
being spilled, with Cody and Alex being falsely accused of making the mess. In the video, Cody cries and pleads hysterically after being screamed and sworn at and accused of lying, with Alex also facing a similar treatment from Mike and
Heather. DeFranco's first video covering the channel was
443:
channel called "The Martin Boys" later changed to "The Martin Family". On
January 8, 2019, Mike was accused of uploading a video in August 2018, which featured Cody. Despite breaking a major probation rule, Mike and Heather's supervised probation was reduced to probation before judgement.
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and children being minor celebrities on social media. Emma and Cody were removed from their custody and returned to their biological mother. The creators also issued a public apology for the videos and said they were "a loving, close-knit family."
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Prosecutors from the
Frederick County Circuit Court filed criminal charges against Mike and Heather in August 2017, with them facing two counts of "neglect of a minor" apart. On September 11, 2017, Mike and Heather pleaded guilty by way of an
923:
274:" videos. At its peak, the channel's videos featured Martin, his wife Heather Martin—also known by her online alias MommyOFive—and their children. In 2017, following a series of "prank" videos showing the parents physically and emotionally
378:
released a series of videos covering the channel and sharing his distaste for the content they created, starting with "WOW... We Need To Talk About This..." on April 17, 2017. He primarily focused on a video involving
300:
Mike and
Heather ceased creating content on Mike's channel DaddyOFive as a result of court-ordered probation, but began producing similar content on the family's new channel called FamilyOFive, which was
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Emma are Mike and his ex-girlfriend Rose Hall's children. The channel accumulated around 750,000 subscribers and 176 million views, prior to Mike removing the videos from public viewing.
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violating YouTube's Community Guidelines, according to several news sources, and YouTube now requires videos featuring children to comply with local child labor laws.
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Rose Hall, the biological mother to Mike's two children Emma and Cody, said that she had not seen Cody since July 2014, when she was duped into signing court papers.
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Mike's channel DaddyOFive released a video on July 7, 2017, showing text expressing that it is not a dead channel and asking viewers to subscribe to Heather's
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wrote, " video was viewed more than three million times and brought widespread condemnation of the DaddyOFive channel." The video has led to debates about
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in July 2018 following renewed interest in the family. However, Mike and Heather have an official website, and a gaming channel on
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correctly; he was never reprimanded, despite leaving Emma visibly hurt. American YouTube personality and news commentator
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The channel was created on August 13, 2015; the channel's about page stated, "we as a FAMILY DECIDED to make this
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Mike and Heather were arrested in August 2017 for the abuse that took place on the YouTube channel. They took an
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credited by many news outlets for shining a light on the channel's extreme content. Andrew Griffin of
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820:"YouTube star Daddyofive loses custody of two children featured in 'prank' video, mother says"
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848:"When exploiting kids for cash goes wrong on YouTube: the lessons of DaddyOFive"
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1113:"WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Daddy O Five's Mike Martin is back as a SoundCloud rapper"
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701:"The saga of a YouTube family who pulled disturbing pranks on their own kids"
668:"YouTube Star DaddyOFive Loses Custody of 2 Children Shown in 'Prank' Videos"
614:
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601:"Mean stream: how YouTube prank channel DaddyOFive enraged the internet"
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in September 2017 in regards to two counts per person of Maryland state
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729:"FamilyOFive: YouTube bans 'pranksters' after child abuse conviction"
1086:"Sentence reduced for alleged YouTube child abusers in Frederick Co"
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924:"Ijamsville couple behind 'DaddyOFive' videos charged with neglect"
482:"Children Taken From Maryland Couple After YouTube 'Prank' Videos"
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As of 2024, Mike is active on YouTube as The Martin Family.
952:"'DaddyOFive' parents found guilty of neglect, avoid jail"
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and were sentenced to five years of supervised probation.
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magazine reported the videos had been made private, while
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On November 11, 2018, Jake, Ryan and Alex created a new
782:"YouTube pranksters Daddyofive deny child abuse claims"
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In June 2019, it was reported that Mike had started a
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637:"The Abusive 'Pranks' of YouTube Family Vloggers"
266:(born December 17, 1982), which focused on daily
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16:YouTube alias of American criminal (born 1982)
846:Abidin, Crystal; Leaver, Tama (May 2, 2017).
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451:channel, uploading his music as "Mikey M".
361:reported that the videos had been deleted.
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397:Post-controversy status and plea agreement
328:Creation of channel and rise in popularity
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950:Augenstein, Neal (September 11, 2017).
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1041:"VLOGS | Home | FamilyOFive"
757:"WOW... We Need To Talk About This..."
7:
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555:
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121:Channel terminated (713,000 at peak)
1228:American Twitch (service) streamers
1111:Cunningham, Amelia (June 5, 2019).
410:'s Silver Play Button for Heather.
1153:2018 disestablishments in Maryland
699:Ohlheiser, Abby (April 26, 2017).
569:from the original on April 3, 2017
14:
1213:YouTube channels launched in 2015
901:"MommyOFive — YouTube about page"
635:Dunphy, Rachel (April 28, 2017).
563:"DaddyOFive — YouTube about page"
1163:Child abuse in the United States
293:charges and received supervised
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1208:YouTube channels closed in 2018
1168:Child abuse incidents and cases
1158:21st-century American criminals
1143:2015 establishments in Maryland
922:Loos, Kelsi (August 11, 2017).
818:Griffin, Andrew (May 2, 2017).
666:Gajanan, Mahita (May 3, 2017).
511:Nick Monroe's Writing Portfolio
365:Controversy and public response
1193:Online obscenity controversies
480:Victor, Daniel (May 3, 2017).
1:
1066:"The Martin Family's Channel"
599:Cresci, Elena (May 7, 2017).
533:"The Martin Family – YouTube"
727:Hern, Alex (July 19, 2018).
254:channel and online alias of
1183:2010s YouTube controversies
874:DaddyOFive channel UPDATE!!
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507:"The Legacy of DaddyOFive"
40:Michael Christopher Martin
991:"Home | FamilyOFive"
977:"Child Safety on YouTube"
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1198:YouTubers from Maryland
929:The Frederick News-Post
881:. YouTube. July 7, 2017
99:2015–2018, 2021–present
1223:Entertainment scandals
1188:American male bloggers
282:public apology video.
276:abusing their children
250:, was a controversial
408:YouTube Creator Award
1218:Scandals in Maryland
767:– via YouTube.
256:Michael Christopher
167:Criminal information
31:Personal information
706:The Washington Post
358:The Washington Post
246:, briefly known as
154:100,000 subscribers
91:YouTube information
73:YouTube personality
1148:2017 controversies
486:The New York Times
431:Attempted comeback
422:Second termination
1092:. January 8, 2019
372:water bottle flip
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96:Years active
50:December 17, 1982
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852:The Conversation
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52:(age 41)
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741:December 18,
739:. Retrieved
734:The Guardian
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606:The Guardian
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129:176 million+
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1138:1982 births
565:. YouTube.
542:February 3,
461:Ruby Franke
416:Alford plea
287:Alford plea
248:FamilyOFive
118:Subscribers
25:Mike Martin
1127:Categories
935:August 12,
879:DaddyOFive
467:References
449:SoundCloud
403:MommyOFive
390:sharenting
303:terminated
244:DaddyOFive
195:(2 counts)
46:1982-12-17
1096:April 27,
1050:April 27,
1025:April 27,
1000:April 27,
903:. YouTube
763:April 27,
615:0261-3077
517:April 27,
491:April 27,
295:probation
205:probation
57:Baltimore
1016:"Twitch"
787:Newsbeat
642:New York
567:Archived
455:See also
346:New York
268:vlogging
203:5 years
176:Released
104:Genre(s)
83:Children
61:Maryland
1071:YouTube
1045:website
995:website
956:WTOP-FM
907:July 9,
885:July 9,
831:June 7,
798:June 7,
712:July 9,
679:July 9,
648:July 9,
620:June 7,
573:June 7,
441:YouTube
334:YouTube
323:History
307:YouTube
252:YouTube
216:Victims
211:Details
77:vlogger
1020:Twitch
736:Online
613:
311:Twitch
264:Martin
63:, U.S.
272:prank
270:and "
112:prank
1098:2019
1090:WUSA
1052:2019
1027:2019
1002:2019
963:2017
937:2017
909:2017
887:2017
859:2017
833:2017
800:2017
765:2019
743:2018
714:2017
681:2017
673:Time
650:2017
622:2017
611:ISSN
575:2017
544:2022
519:2019
493:2019
355:and
352:Time
343:and
260:Mike
157:2016
108:Vlog
36:Born
792:BBC
305:by
1129::
1088:.
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