*Trigger Warning* AIBU to not understand how this YouTuber isn't being investigated for child abuse?

[milkmilklemonade12]

So I actually found out about this channel via another large forum I post on. Essentially, a YouTube channel which is called DaddyOFive (it's reasonably large, around three quarters of a million subscribers) centres around a blog made by the father, with 5 children. The upshot of it is, people were angry about how the family, lead by the father; bully one of their children Cody, and pass it off as just 'good old fashioned parenting!'

At first until I checked out the videos I honestly thought it couldn't be that bad. I was horribly wrong. Some of the videos are entitled:
Dad burns Cody's Pokemon cards
Dad destroys son's DS
Dad forces son to throw away his toys
I'm sending Cody to military school

In their most recent video, because Cody had been bad (smeared poop on the walls; a recognised sign of abuse and distress), they took all the other kids to DisneyLand.

These videos are horrific, and despite them being located in the US, I really feel like CPS should be investigating and YouTube should shut the channel down for child abuse.

If you can bear to watch the videos, the guy's name is DaddyOFive, and I'd urge you to take a few minutes and report their videos for child abuse. I really don't understand how in this day and age, this kind of thing isn't investigated more quickly. The child is sobbing, and regularly in horrendous distress at the bullying at the hands of his parents and siblings, so these videos could trigger people; that's why I haven't directly linked them and why I've placed a warning on the top of my post.

Morning everyone! Sorry I fell asleep last night. Just a reminder again:

YouTube channel: DaddyOFive

Maryland CPS:

[email protected]

Link to petition:

www.change.org/p/youtube-ban-daddyofive-from-youtube?recruiter=710209874&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-reason_msg

The petition now has over 1500 signatures. I think that online petitions are a bit crap personally, but it DOES get the attention of the media who really put the pressure on YouTube/Twitter et al.

I think there's more than enough evidence on the YouTube channel to land both parents with charges, so even if the channel is taken down; that evidence will still be there. They absolutely shouldn't be making money from child abuse either.

In a clip of another video I saw today; I will provide a link if anyone wants it; Cody's father pushes him against a book case and Cody gets a bloody nose. The clip and video is put together by a third party; so no fear of providing advertising revenue!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day, thank you so much for all the signatures, support, emails and reports.

If anyone has any other contact information we can use or ideas on how we could help; please share it. If you feel comfortable, please share the petitions and clips with your friends so they can add their names to the petitions too.

Lets hope the daily mail get hold of this one!

I think the shelf pushing one got taken down

Amazing news PP who called DCFS!!! What fantastic progress - over 100 reports in a day, they have to do something about this. Well done Anyone who had a part in that in any way and super well done milk all round!!!

He's just uploaded one 'exposing' it's all fake and all the vids are the kids ideas. Backed up by using 'fake' in the keywords sometimes...... right. And they love their fans so didn't make it obvious before. That's believeable.

They say they're under 'severe attack' - well that's severe bollocks

I've signed and reported. I can't believe what I've seen.

And thanks to the poster who phoned SS in Maryland and updated to say they're officially investigating after receiving over 100 reports

The sad reality here is that no amount of online campaigns are going to make the slightest bit of difference to these people. Whether the video's are real or a prank (and unfortunately such prank video's do exist on the likes of YouTube,) all that will happen is that they will take the video's down and disappear into obscurity.

What we need to be asking more than anything though is why anyone felt the need/desire to watch these video's in the first place. Because without the viewers there would have been no income generation. So while there is no question that uploading a video showing the alleged abuse of one child is despicable, the individuals who are subscribing to these video's and watching them on a regular enough basis to generate a decent income are partly responsible for the fact the video's are out there in the first place.

Very true wannabe I worry about copy cats, especially young people, who their target audience seems to be, carry these stunts out on their own siblings or other family members, God forbid their kids

I've just watched their pathetic apology video. How do you "fake" pushing your child face first into a bookshelf causing a nose bleed? You can't fake that poor boys tears
and then spouting crap about how they're a blended family etc. Excuses excuses

Utterly truly vile

True wannabe - I think a lot of people who watch these kind of vids though genuinely don't have a concept that there's something wrong with it, maybe they don't realise the implications and 'buy' the idea that it's all ok because the vids are labelled as pranks and it's on Youtube in public so surely it can't be wrong. It's too horrifying to most people to think that parents would abuse their kids, especially in that sort of way rather than the odd headline grabbing cases so think some just ignore it happening and believe it's all innocent fun. Sickening though.

Just watched the 'exposing' video all the way through (sorry to increase their views) and feel sick - both of them trying to excuse it all away, I only watched one of his vids before (on another channel) and you could easily see it wasn't a prank as far as the kids were concerned but then they had to be ok with it in case they wound him up more.

Just watched a short video of the mum weeping and swearing on Twitter saying she wanted to make a f*cking video...and tragically her kids are comforting her, not the other way round. Then watched two minutes of the sanctimonious drivel of them - in which mum has suddenly gotten over her trauma and is yawning in the background . Not once do they apologise for what they've done to their children, even now, it's all about them!!! He shows zero emotion except annoyance at what he claims people have done to him. Sociopath anyone?

The story was featured on WUSA channel 9, which is the main CBS station in the Washington DC area. In the end though, the reporter says the parents have issued an apology so maybe they've seen the error of their ways. Oh, that makes everything ok then.

WTF!! No mention of the pushing into a shelf, or the disturbing poop-smearing episode. Lightweight journalism at its worst. But I suppose the news people can't be seen to judge the parents on TV.

www.wusa9.com/news/local/md-parents-prank-video-outrages-youtube-viewers/432252838?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=58f6f5db04d3017b5399e633&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

I thought I'd seen it all but this is shocking. Abuse your child, get paid for it. Then call it a prank!

These are not children who subscribe but adults getting off on this shit (sick world out there folks).

The noise levels in that house! The level of emotional and physical abuse in that house! And this is called entertainment?

The pushing one I described earlier has been covered in detail by this youtuber:

If you skip to around 11:35, you'll see exactly what I mean and the push that caused it. I've highlighted it because I think the actual video concerned has now been taken down, and also because I think that the severity of the abuse shouldn't be 'made okay' by a couple of shitty Twitter updates, and if it is a prank and the kids are 'all in on it', then apparently it includes assaulting your child as well. But that's okay. Because they don't mind being assaulted

ledkr I'm going to be compiling an email to the DM today; they take enough from this site anyway!

JessKM to you for keeping this thread buoyant through the night.

I have seen a couple of messages saying that there could be a problem caused by this 'internet pitchforks' type mentality, in that in a week or so it could all go back to normal, and be WORSE for Cody. That this kind of thing tends to die down after a while, CPS will investigate, the family will pretend it's all okay and then things will go back to the way they were.

Well, that is a fair point. However; it's not right to just let it lie either. My hope is, that even worst case and this all gets dropped tomorrow; enough people will have spread the message that his extended family, friends, neighbours, teachers, coaches etc get to hear about it. Now some of them of course, will not care. But a good number of them will. And by raising this awareness, if his teachers get to hear about it, theyll be watching now even if this all dies away. They'll be actively looking for the signs of abuse. And that's a GOOD thing.

WOW, 6 minutes in to this video - Michael Martin is NOT codys dad...the three elder children (the ones who are equally as aggressive) are his bio children. Cody is his step child...no prizes as to guesses how the intended victim was chosen.

Look at Cody compared to the other boys!!!

This is just more fuel to the fire. I hope Cody and Emma's dad and extended family is aware of all of this

I just watched a few now and I'm livid. It's disgusting how they treat the kids and poor Cody. That fat pig of a mother is just nauseating. It doesn't seem as if they even like their children.

Just to confirm this bombshell

MIKE MARTIN IS NOT CODYS FATHER

Stepdad?

Fucking arsehole. What an absolute bully.

My DH is a stepdad to my children - similar ages to Cody. I can't imagine for a second how any of that behaviour could ever be ok.

Horrific. Really really bad.

I just wanted to pop on quickly (just going out) as not sure if this has been mentioned already, but in case it hasn't, Heather Martin (the mother in the videos) is Not the biological mother of Cody and his sibling Emma.
Their mother is Rose Hall. Apparently she complained to Maryland cps back in October regarding the videos. There was a link to the original complaint document on Reddit.
Not sure of the ins and outs of how she lost custody of the children but it is said that false allegations were made against her. Need to google some more.

I have only watched the De Franco exposure video,that was enough for me, refuse to watch any of the DO5 ones These people are sick in the head!

I thought Cody was his biological child, they had the bio mother interviewed on some channel and in the 'apology' vid they run down the bio mother and say he's doing so much better now . Obviously emotional/physical abuse is so much better than neglect (if he was neglected previously). They even go on about how they'll win in court but don't want the kids going through that - so obviously worried the biological mother will have a problem with their 'pranks'.

Wow crossposted here, just seen that mike Martin is not the biological father either, haven't read all the messages but that poor kid doesn't live with either of his bio parents.....will come back and read properly later, got to go.

That poor child

I've emailed the DM this morning:

Good Morning,

I'd like to highlight to you a severe case of child abuse taking place under the guise of 'pranks' on a YouTube channel; DaddyOFive.

This YouTube channel has over three quarters of a million subscribers, and centres on the entire family 'pranking' one of the five children, and the subject is mainly Cody, who is between 6 and 8. Here are titles of some of the videos:

Dad destroys son's DS
Cody gets put up for adoption prank
Dad throws Cody's toys away
Cody gets kicked out
Kids get the belt
I'm sending Cody to military school

They are extremely sadistic in nature, and this youtuber:

Investigated and provided links to a video where Cody gets wound up to the point where his father pushes him into the book case and gives him a bloody nose. If you watch from around 11:35 for about 20 seconds; this should give you enough of an idea.

The parents encourage their children to gang up on Cody, and most recently they took all of the children except Cody on a trip to DisneyLand. Why? Because Cody had smeared his faeces on the wall. This is a huge red flag for severe emotional abuse, and when you consider these videos are around 15-35 minutes in nature, and these are the EDITED videos... who knows how long this family has to film to get enough to make this length of video, and also what they don't deem acceptable for a YouTube audience?

www.reddit.com/r/DeFranco/comments/66128n/the_daddyofive_family_is_going_to_disneyland_and/?st=J1OPAJ01&sh=dfc4365a

Here is the link to the Reddit thread discussing that particular episode.

Here also is a link to a Reddit thread discussing the Phillip DeFranco show, who recently took this story up:

www.reddit.com/r/h3h3productions/comments/65yhwf/philip_defranco_talks_about_daddyofive/?st=J1OPBPB5&sh=bb99eb7c

I feel that this is worth your time investigating; because this family are literally making money (they have merchandise and advertising revenue) from child abuse. I have no idea what youtube's stance on this is, but I'd be eager to find out.

Finally, here is the link to a change.org petition to have this family removed from YouTube:

www.change.org/p/youtube-ban-daddyofive-from-youtube?recruiter=710209874&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-reason_msg

I'd be grateful if you do investigate this, that you pop this at the bottom of your article in order to help people spread awareness of this.

Warm Regards,

milkmilklemonade

What?! I'm so confused... he's not biologically related to any of them?!