MARICOPA, AZ — A Marciopa woman with a popular YouTube channel that featured the various adventures of her children is accused of abusing the kids when the cameras were off, at least in part as punishment if they failed to remember their lines or did not participate in the YouTube series as directed, according to Maricopa police.
The woman, identified in jail records as Machelle Hackney, 48, is charged with two counts of child molestation, seven counts of child abuse, five counts of unlawful imprisonment and five counts of child neglect, police said. Hackney’s YouTube channel has 800,000 subscribers and the last video posted to the account garnered nearly 4 million views. Patch is not naming the YouTube channel because the children are identifiable in the videos.
In the videos, the children appear happy and rambunctious as they engage in Nerf battles and food fights and go on missions to steal cookies or train to be superheroes. Off-camera, they endured a horrific pattern of abuse, according to the case police laid out against Hackney in a probable cause statement.
The video streaming service confirmed the channel was demonetized once the company was made aware of the arrest. The account has since been suspended.
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“We take safety on YouTube very seriously,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. “We work closely with leading child safety organizations and others in our industry to protect young people. When we’re made aware of serious allegations of this nature we take action, which may include suspending monetization, or, upon conclusion of an investigation, terminating channels.”
According to SocialBlade, an analytics website that tracks different video streaming platforms, Hackney’s estimated monthly earnings from the YouTube channel were between $8,900-$142,400.
Hackney’s two adult sons, Logan Hackney and Ryan Hackney, were charged with seven counts of failing to report abuse of a minor, police said.
The arrests came after a woman showed up at Maricopa police headquarters on March 13 and asked authorities to look into what was happening in the home where seven of her adopted siblings lived with Hackney. She told police her younger sister had confessed she had been locked in a closet for days at a time and deprived of food, water and bathroom privileges, according to the probable cause statement, which said the girl’s six other siblings had been similarly punished.
When police conducted a welfare check at the residence, they found a child in a closet with a locking mechanism, though it was unlocked at the time, the statement said. Police said they found six other children who appeared malnourished and said they were thirsty and hungry. They were underweight, had dark rings under their eyes and had pale complexions, the statement said.
After police arrived, the boy in the closet drank three 16-ounce bottles of water in 20 minutes, police said. He also said he had been pepper-sprayed, according to the probable cause statement.
When police searched the home, they found two cans of pepper spray. A master bedroom closet where the children said they had been imprisoned for days had a deadbolt lock and bare tile floor, police said.
The seven minor children were removed from Hackney’s custody by Arizona’s Department of Child Safety, police said.
One child told DCS investigators during a forensic and physical exam that her mother sprayed her and her siblings with pepper spray all over their face and body, spanked them, forced them to take ice baths and, if they resisted, would force their heads under water, the probable cause statement said. Hackney also made the children stand in a corner with their arms above their heads for several hours at a time, the statement said.
One child told investigators his mother had pinched his penis to the point that it bled, another said Hackney had sprayed her vagina with pepper spray, and another said she grabbed his “privates” and beat him in the head with her knuckles, according to the statement.
The children also said Hackney took them out of school so they could keep filming the YouTube series, police said.
Hackney and her two adult sons were arrested on March 15, police said. Ryan Hackney invoked his Miranda rights but Logan Hackney admitted to police about the alleged abuse, police said. Logan Hackney said he had discussed reporting the abuse to police with Ryan Hackney, according to police.
Machelle Hackney denied most of the claims and said the only forms of punishment she uses are standing her children in the corner, spanking them and grounding them, police said.