All over YouTube, families post their day-to-day lives and the fun things that they do with their children, yet the dark truth is often hidden beneath the surface. Many family channels make their lives seem perfect to the audience, when in reality, accounts like these are caught using their kids for money and views. Most of these channels share the same issue that the family content may be classified as child exploitation, often considered to be child labor. Still, some of these channels abuse their kids off and occasionally on screen.
DaddyOfive
Daddyofive (Mike Martin) was a family YouTuber who used to post prank videos of his five kids. However, one of his videos was removed due to him violating YouTube’s policies. Said video was him pouring ink on a carpet, then yelling at his son Cody and saying he did it. In other videos, he had his son Jake physically and mentally abuse his younger siblings. Due to a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation, he got custody of his kids taken away, Martin then illegally took his kids back, forging legal documents to get his kids back. Martin and his wife Heather were sentenced to probation in 2017 for two counts of child neglect, in 2018 Martin allegedly posted a video on his son’s channel breaking his probation’s rules, Martin and Heather have since been released and are posting on social media again.
8 Passengers
8 passengers, this YouTube channel was run by Utah family vlogger Ruby Franke. Franke would post both the tender and realistic sides of her family life, fit with videos of the punishments she’d give her kids, which included refusing to feed them and not letting them sleep in a proper bed. Her 12-year-old son one day snuck out of his house to ask his neighbors for food and water, and he was seen with his limbs tied up and visible injuries all over. In videos, Franke said her 6-year-old daughter needed to go hungry because she forgot to pack herself lunch, due to it being a ‘teaching moment.’ The eldest daughter, Shari Franke, attempted to get child services to save her siblings for years, and interviews state that the rest of the Franke family was aware of their mother’s behavior but didn’t help the kids at all. Franke pleaded guilty to four accounts of aggravated child abuse and she was charged with four to 30 years in prison.
Fantastic Adventures
Fantastic Adventures (Michelle Hobson) is a channel that was shut down in 2019. She made videos featuring her 7 kids but also had adult children who were not included in many of the videos. In one of her videos, one of her adopted kids was seen naked running around their neighborhood, and the police department was contacted but did not find any signs of abuse. Hobson was then investigated 9 other times with still no signs of abuse. It wasn’t until Hobson’s biological daughter gave the police some revealing information that they found anything, and they went to the home to do a Welfare Check at the home. The police found several of the children malnourished, and one admitted to being locked in a closet without food, water or access to a bathroom for days. Hobson committed unspeakable forms of abuse to her kids. Hobson would also beat them until they performed how she wanted them to for her videos. When she was arrested, two of her biological sons were arrested along with her for failing to report the abuse they witnessed. Hobson was charged with child abuse, molestation, child neglect and unlawful imprisonment. Hobson endured a brain injury while in prison and has since died, but her two sons were arrested again for inappropriate relations with minors.
While not all family YouTube channels are abusive behind the scenes, you should still be cautious of who you support. No matter how much content is put online, you’ll never know what goes on off-camera and how these parents truly treat their kids.
