Court "Pranks" DaddyOFive With Neglect Charge and Probation

It’s a long way to the top, if you want to post prank videos on YouTube.

YouTube isn’t for the faint of heart. Unless you’re willing to make a 13 minute-long video to explain how fidget spinners work or brag about your latest shipment of a cutting-edge gadget, you’re going to have a difficult time finding your audience. If we've learned anything from Balloon Boy, it's that people often turn to the age-old art of manipulating their kids to rack up those precious views.

Enter: DaddyOFive, the infamous YouTube channel run by Mike and Heather Martin, a Maryland couple and frontrunners for Worst Parents of the Year. Known to some as the go-to destination for child abuse videos no one really asked for, DaddyOFive drew heavy backlash earlier this year in April, after a "prank" video of the two spilling invisible ink on their carpet only to blame it on their kids with profanity-ridden verbal abuse.

Of course, rather than take these accusations seriously or reevaluate their parenting style, the Martins decided their best route would be to fire back at the critics in the tried-and-true fashion of "haters gonna hate." Of course, this type of thing doesn’t hold water in a court of law.

With a collection of more than 300 videos where the Martins berate their kids, smash their toys and, in at least one video, give one of their children a bloody nose, they have been practically begging for a knock-on-the-door from the Child Protective Services. By May, the couple had lost custody of two of their five children, but no criminal charges were filed.

This week, though, a Frederick County Circuit Court judge in Maryland found the couple guilty of child neglect, sentencing them to five years of probation. You could call that judge a “hater.”

But these videos have lasting effects. In court, Maryland state attorney Lindy Angel argued that the couple is responsible for inflicting emotional trauma and other “observable, identifiable and substantial impairments of their mental or psychological ability to function" on their 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, citing the findings of a neuropsychologist working with the investigation. Haters gonna hate, right?

And DaddyOFive won’t be dropping any new "prank" videos, so don’t hold your breath for a sequel. The court order denies the parents visitation rights without supervision and prohibits both from uploading any videos online during the probation period. Should they fail to comply and upload another video, each would face up to a five-year jail sentence per conviction.

And so we say goodbye to DaddyOFive. We'll see you in five years, when you can return to posting obnoxious play through videos. Until then, please stay away from the internet.