Mike and Heather Martin, creators of the YouTube channel Daddy O five face child abuse allegations after playing ruthless pranks on their children and posting the videos online. The videos have since been deleted but the channel manages to maintain a subscriber count of over 740,000 users.
The videos range in severity but yield the same outcomes, resulting in emotional distress or physical harm to the children. One of their pranks involved convincing their son Cody that he was being put up for adoption. He is unfazed at first but starts to believe his father when he begins packing Cody’s belongings. Cody screams and hits Mike before telling him he hates him. Despite seeing how distressed his son is, Mike continues the prank for over 20 minutes and punishes Cody for overreacting. You can watch the full video below.
Emma and Cody seem to be the primary victims of their parent’s pranks. In a 40-minute video the kids can be seen destroying Emma’s room while one of them records the encounter. Hoping to receive some form of assistance from her parents, she runs upstairs while they continue ruining her things. Mike doesn’t do much to control the situation and allows the kids to torment Emma while she cries in a corner. Rather than consoling his daughter he films her and demands that she grab the tablet one of the kids stole from her to make sure it isn’t broken. In the end, she is yelled at for what her siblings did to her. The full clip, along with commentary from YouTuber Joy Sparkle BS is posted below.
Mike and Heather claimed all the videos were scripted, denying the videos were abusive. However, in an interview with Good Morning America, the parents express their regrets in posting the videos and making terrible parenting choices. They claimed some of their kids’ reactions were exaggerated to obtain more views. “We did do pranks but most of the time the kids knew about them and they were planned. Some stuff is real and some stuff was scripted,” said Heather during her interview with Good morning America.
Custody of Emma and Cody has been returned to their biological mother Rose Hall. Hall was disgusted and heartbroken by the videos and took immediate action to protect them. She claims her children are much happier now and are getting back to their playful selves. Heather and Mike have appeared in court but as of now, little is known about the future of the Daddy O Five clan.