48-year-old, from Hackney Maxell Maricopa (AZ) and her two sons are accused of cruel treatment with 7 foster children, forcing them to participate in the popular YouTube channel «Fantastic Adventures».
Machell, Hackney
According to police, the shocking charges include spraying pepper spray on the genitals of children, refusal of food and water, beatings, locking in a closet, limiting the use of the bathroom for several days and hold his head under water.
Hackney and her two adult sons were arrested on Friday, March 15. Police conducted a welfare check after a complaint from the biological daughter of Hackney. Upon arrival, police found one child in an unlocked Cabinet, who was dressed only in a diaper.
«Officers made contact with six other children, who, judging by the pale complexion, the dark circles under the eyes and lack of weight, malnutrition. They said they feel thirst and hunger,» reads the police report.
Yesterday, March 19, the judge sent them to a detention facility without the possibility of bail. The woman denies cruelty to children, and declares that only spanked put them in the corner.
«Beat me with a hanger, belt, or hairbrush, or pepper sprayed from head to toe,» he told the police one of the children.
According to police documents, during interrogation, the children drank a lot of water, and one child refused to eat the potato chips because you were afraid that Hackney will «smell» on his breath.
One of the boys complained of pain, saying that his mother in this day and squeezing his genitals. The other boy admitted that Hackney could squeeze the tip of his penis with his fingernails, until he starts bleeding.
The charges are sharply at odds with the picture that shows on the YouTube channel «Fantastic Adventures», where children appear in various sketches. On channel 700 800 subscribers and over 242 million views.
«We are Fantastic Adventures, we are a family that is full of unique and special children! — stated in the description. — We started to do these videos for fun but fell in love with their creation and now make them every week for you guys!»
Some of the children told investigators that they had a few years of not going to school. One said that «the greater part of his life he spent in the room with a green screen».
They also claimed that their foster mother scoffed at them whenever they forgot their lines or didn’t do what was written in the script.
YouTube confirmed that the channel was demonetisation after they became aware of the arrest.
