Fantastic Adventures scandal

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Machelle Hackney Hobson
Personal information
Born
Machelle Hobson

ca. 1969-1971
Maricopa, Arizona, U.S.
DiedNovember 12, 2019 (aged 48–50)
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
OriginMaricopa, Arizona, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)YouTube personality, comedian, director
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–2019
GenreComedy
SubscribersChannel terminated (800,726 at peak)[1]
Total views250,405,180[1]
100,000 subscribers2018
Last updated: March 20, 2019

The Fantastic Adventures scandal was a 2019 scandal involving the YouTube channel Fantastic Adventures, run by Machelle Hackney Hobson of Maricopa, Arizona, in the United States. The scandal began when one of Hobson's biological children contacted the police after witnessing her adopted siblings being systematically abused by her mother.[2][3][4] Hobson and the channel garnered worldwide media attention, given the degree of Hobson's child abuse.[5][6][7]

Background

[edit]

On June 17, 2012,[8] Machelle Hackney Hobson created a YouTube channel, Fantastic Adventures, which would feature videos starring her seven adopted children.[9] The channel ultimately attracted more than 800,000 subscribers,[8] more than 350 million views,[9] and netted at least tens of thousands of dollars in revenue.[10]

In 2017, one of the children involved in Hobson's videos was seen running naked through the neighborhood, raising suspicion among the neighbors as to some sort of impropriety.[11] According to the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS), Hobson was investigated by DCS on nine separate occasions, but no definitive evidence of abuse was found.[12]

In March 2019, after receiving a tip from Hobson's biological adult daughter, Megan Hobson,[13] police arrived at the Hobson home for a welfare check.[10] On seeing the children, police noted that they appeared to be malnourished, and several of the children reported that Hobson had subjected them to physical abuse. One daughter stated that, on one occasion, Hobson had applied pepper spray to her vagina, and a son reported that Hobson had subjected him to beatings and pinched the tip of his penis with her fingernails until it bled.[10] The children reported that Hobson would frequently abuse them when they refused to perform in "Fantastic Adventures" videos and when their performances did not meet Hobson's standards.[9][10]

Hobson and her two adult biological sons, Logan and Ryan Hackney, were arrested.[14] Hobson was charged with 30 felony counts related to the abuse,[15] and her sons were charged with failure to report their mother's abuse.[14]

Death

[edit]

In May 2019, Hobson suffered a non-trauma-related brain injury at Pinal County Jail, and she was transferred to a local hospital.[16] Her health subsequently deteriorated, and a judge declared her "incompetent to stand trial but restorable"[16]—a designation that gave state officials 15 months to restore Hobson to legal competency.[17][18] Instead, Hobson died in a Scottsdale hospital on November 12, 2019, and the charges against her were dismissed as a result of her death.[19][20]

Aftermath

[edit]

In April 2019, the charges filed against Hobson's adult sons for failure to report child abuse were dismissed,[21] but in May 2023, prosecutors filed charges against the two Hackney brothers for multiple counts of sexual misconduct with minors.[15] Their indictments were sealed, and the identity of the victim (or victims) was not initially made public.[15]

Reactions

[edit]
  • Torrie Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona, called the mother behind the scandal a "master manipulator" and stated that Hobson did not have the qualification to adopt children.[22]
  • YouTube announced that it would be working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find any users who were abusing children and that anyone who was convicted would have their channel terminated.[2][23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "About Fantastic Adventures". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b "A YouTuber Who Earned Thousands from Videos of Her Kids Performing Was Charged with Child Abuse". BuzzFeed News. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  3. ^ Nadeau, Barbie Latza (20 March 2019). "Cops: YouTube Mom Pepper-Sprayed 'Fantastic Adventure' Kid Stars to Force Them to Perform". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2019 – via www.thedailybeast.com.
  4. ^ Colburn, Randall (20 March 2019). "YouTube's popular Fantastic Adventures channel terminated after reports of child abuse". News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Enfants battus : La mère interpellée, YouTube ferme leur chaîne "Fantastic Adventures"". CNews (in French). 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  6. ^ Sarah Duhieu (2019-03-21). "États-Unis : elle maltraitait ses enfants pour gagner des vues sur Youtube" (in French). Rtl.fr. Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  7. ^ "US mum 'starved YouTube channel kids'". BBC News. 2019-03-20. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  8. ^ a b "machellehobson YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics - Socialblade.com". Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  9. ^ a b c Eric Levenson and Mel Alonso (March 27, 2019). "A mom on a popular YouTube show is accused of pepper-spraying her kids when they flubbed their lines" (HTML). CNN. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d Amber Jamieson (March 21, 2019). "A YouTuber Who Earned Thousands From Videos Of Her Kids Performing Was Charged With Child Abuse" (HTML). Buzzfeed News. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  11. ^ "Child of YouTube creator accused of abuse, torture seen running naked through the neighborhood: Police". 2019-03-21. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  12. ^ "I-TEAM: DCS investigated 'YouTube Mom' 9 times before her arrest, found no proof of abuse". 17 December 2020. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  13. ^ Jennings Brown (20 March 2019). "Police Report: Popular YouTuber Children Were Starved, Beaten, Pepper-Sprayed by Mother". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  14. ^ a b "Machelle Hobson, YouTube mom behind Fantastic Adventures channel, accused of child abuse - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2019-03-21. Archived from the original on 2023-07-15. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  15. ^ a b c "Sons of Maricopa 'YouTube Mom' charged with sexual misconduct with minors". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on 2023-07-15. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  16. ^ a b Perry Vandell (November 13, 2019). "YouTube mom accused of child abuse died of natural causes, Pinal County Attorney says". AZ Central. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  17. ^ "Judge: Florence YouTube mom accused of abusing kids incompetent for trial". Associated Press. August 28, 2019. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  18. ^ Brian Wright (August 28, 2019). "'YouTube Mom' Hobson declared incompetent but 'restorable'". Pinal Central. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  19. ^ Zach Crenshaw (May 15, 2021). "'A failure of the system': Kids told DCS and police about prior 'YouTube Mom' abuse". ABC 15. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  20. ^ "Machelle Hobson Dies at Hospital in Scottsdale". ABC15. 2019-11-13. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  21. ^ "Adult sons of Pinal County YouTube mom won't be charged in abuse case". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  22. ^ "Signs missed? Mom with kids on YouTube accused of abuse". 2019-03-21. Archived from the original on 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  23. ^ "'It's the wild, Wild West': Unlike professional actors, YouTube child stars have fewer protections". NBC News. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
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