DaddyofFive Youtube Vlogger Accused of Abuse

[ViolaSebastian]

So I've run across this fellow named Mike Martin, who is a father of five. He and his wife have a youtube channel with videos that consist primarily of "pranks" on the kids. Some (myself included...) are calling these "pranks" abusive--they involve a lot of yelling, strong language, and in one instance, one of the children gets pushed into a bookcase and has a nosebleed as a result. I've linked to one of the videos, but be aware it's very triggering.

 

[kacarlton]

Omg. What is wrong with them? That is soooo abusive. Those poor little boys!

[Terrie]

They have come out and claimed the videos are fake, but even if they are staged, there is nothing fake about the violence. A previously removed video surfaced of the dad setting up a game where the kids slapped each other in the face. Plus one where the couple calls the youngest son "crazy." They have video taped their kids defending them, rather than protecting their kids from the controversy. A lot of their defenders claim that if you watch the reset of the videos, it's clear the couple loves their kids, but the reality is that many abusive parents love their kids, but lack appropriate skills and judgement for parenting. They also say if you look at the whole of it, not all the "pranks" are like that, but so wat? Anyone with a basic knowledge of how people work could tell you these kind of things almost always escalate, getting nastier and nastier, in an attempt to keep the shock going.

CPS has responded that they were unaware of the videos, but can't comment on if an investigation will be done, due to their confidentiality rules. Here's hoping that this crap stops. 

[ILoveJellybeans]

This is horrible, there is no way that can be fake, there is real emotion on those poor children's faces and in their voices. The youngest is about 8, and a kid that young cant fake that. Theyre clearly very upset by this, especially Cody.

What kind of monster would find these kind of videos funny? Parents pretending to destroy their children's possessions in front of them, or encouraging their siblings to do it to them. Parents winding their children up until they cry and scream, and then punishing them and tormenting them for being upset. Encouraging a kid to slap his sister in the face, or break his little brother's iPad. Filming children tormenting eachother (including a much younger child throwing his little brother) and uploading it onto the internet. Kids crying that they don't want to be filmed. Parents shouting, screaming and swearing at their children. The dad pushed the child into a bookshelf, and they always seem to have a ton of bruises.

Im so glad that this has been reported to the authorities. I seriously hope their children get removed from the home. They don't deserve to be parents.

[Cleopatra7]

How could anyone think that parents playing "pranks" on kids is in any way funny? Maybe I'm just naive, but this is the kind of thing that can cause kids to grow up to be anti-social. The only answer I have is that some people are so desperate for fame of any type that they will resort to exploiting their children in the grossest ways imaginable.

[unsafetydancer]

Been watching this unfold on youtube for a day or so. What the hell is with these people? The big brother seems to be developing the same bullying behaviour as his father/stepfather and the mum seems to be at the best stupid and at worst downright mean. Why would they even think of filming this? Who is watching this and liking/subscribing? There's not even any point because it's not funny to watch or useful in any way. I hope those kids get to stay somewhere better. The internet rumour is that the two youngest were taken across state lines by the dad and effectively kidnapped so at the very least they might get to go back with their mother.

[CrazyLurkerLady]

I saw a bit of the follow-up clip they posted, where the oldest (I think?) was saying, "It was JUST a PRANK." to try and excuse it away. Abused kids usually don't realize they're being abused. They think it's normal. I thought a LOT of things were normal as a kid and I wasn't able to understand it was abuse until I left the home and it really clicked that not only was it sucky, it was flat-out WRONG.

These kids are being taught to be abusers and just downright nasty people.

[nastyhobbitses]

I've been following this for a few days.

The "it's all fake", "I'm sorry this got out of hand (but not sorry for pushing, shoving, screaming at, and destroying the possessions of my children for money and attention)", "the kids are OK with it" excuses are straight out of the deflect/fauxpology PR playbook. These "parents" are absolutely unfit. They are 12-year-old bullies in the bodies of adults, and they should be ashamed of themselves. It breaks my heart to see Cody (the little one who's "crazy" because he "can't take a joke") be bullied and abused like that, and it also breaks my heart to see that the oldest son is becoming his father's goon, likely because he knows he could just as easily be Cody if the wind blew a little differently.

Remove these children from this horrible, unhealthy home.

[ViolaSebastian]

38 minutes ago, CrazyLurkerLady said:

I saw a bit of the follow-up clip they posted, where the oldest (I think?) was saying, "It was JUST a PRANK." to try and excuse it away. Abused kids usually don't realize they're being abused. They think it's normal. I thought a LOT of things were normal as a kid and I wasn't able to understand it was abuse until I left the home and it really clicked that not only was it sucky, it was flat-out WRONG.

These kids are being taught to be abusers and just downright nasty people.

I was really struck by the kids protesting that "at least their not beaten, like some kids." That sounds like something a crappy, emotionally abusive parent would say. 

[CrazyLurkerLady]

Just now, ViolaSebastian said:

I was really struck by the kids protesting that "at least their not beaten, like some kids." That sounds like something a crappy, emotionally abusive parent would say. 

Absolutely! Everyone can point to someone worse and say, "See, we're not so bad!" People that beat their kids say, "Hey, you have food and a roof over your head, appreciate that!" If you aren't abusing your kids, you say, "I love my children and I treat them right." You don't say, "Well I could choose to be worse, why don't you give me credit for that???" Which of course implies that what they have done doesn't matter as long as they can think of one subjectively worse thing.

[BlessaYourHeart]

I actually seen something about them on twitter a while ago- I think it was a different video but it was the little one Cody that was hurt in it. 

Those aren't pranks; it's terrorising their children for the sake of money! The children should come first not the money! They are seriously bullying their kids; it's horrible and it made my skin crawl watching it. 

Im not a mother but I have an 8 year old God-daughter who is my world and i couldn't imagine doing anything like this to her. A prank to me is when I put a plastic dog poop thing in her bed to freak her out not bloody shoving a child into a bookshelf! 

 

EDIT to say that I just checked their channel and all videos apart from an 'apology' are gone

 

EDIT again - this is the video I saw of them firstly 

 

[Gobsmacked]

Where the hell are CPS? Those children need safety now. Are they going to wait until a child is killed? Cody is abused. That's its it end of. The father is a bully. Cody will end up running away, getting mixed up in all sorts of trouble because he doesn't know which way to turn. He has no guidance from his father. His mother is a total evil dipstick.  Cody has NO SAFE SPACE. Who the hell swears like that at their children or any one like that ALL the time.

The only safe place those kids have is school, I do not believe that the school authorities, other parents , neighbours DO NOT know what is happening.

That man should be in jail. The kids in a safe environment. 

Just because a house looks clean and well furnished, because the kids have nice clothes doesn't mean that abuse doesn't happen.

if the mother is telling the truth about being investigated, the team who investigated should be suspended. ASAP.

i can imagine the weeping and wailing that will happen when Cody is  killed during a 'prank' .

The buck passing will be sickening.

The proof is there. Posted by that crackpot father. Who the hell waves a gun around a house full of young children.

WHERE is CPS???????????????????

[SusanDelgado]

[Gobsmacked]

If the videos are gone that is more frightening 

The abuse, because that is what it is, will now continue behind closed doors.

Cody will end up dead. Poor poor child.

[unsafetydancer]

Just watched that video, it made me sick. Who the hell does that? Literally the first thing I would do if I knew someone was self harming would be to try and find out why?

Doesn't anyone ever think to take that kid to a doctor or even a counsellor? Doesn't his school have something in place to get a self harming child the help they need?

Horrible.

[Gobsmacked]

The fact that Cody is self harming at 8 years old should be ringing alarm bells at the school.

The parents are the REASON. They have filmed themselves abusing the kids.

Im so mad.

[CrazyLurkerLady]

Oh my god. I just watched that whole video and I am fighting back tears. How old is Cody? 8 or 9? He's so fucking traumatized he's self-harming in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. When you hear about kids committing suicide at 10, 11, 12, you can't imagine why in the world that would even enter their minds as a possibility and then you see this and you KNOW.

If screaming curses at his children is what this waste of space thinks is ok to share with millions of strangers, he is without a doubt beating the shit out of them when the camera is off. Also, it is very very clear when you look at his face at the beginning of the video that Mike is NOT sober. These children are in very very immediate danger.

[unsafetydancer]

Question, in the US do you guys have any sort of helpline either a kid or an adult could call to find out how to fix this and get help? If so can anyone do that?

[Gobsmacked]

If that miserable excuse for a man had pushed an adult into the bookcase like that he would have been arrested and charged assault.

Do it to a vulnerable child and it ok because your filming it ?????!??????

No.

I think you may be correct CrazyLurkerLady. That miserable excuse for a human being is quite possibly high on something other than alchohol. 

[nastyhobbitses]

1 hour ago, CrazyLurkerLady said:

Oh my god. I just watched that whole video and I am fighting back tears. How old is Cody? 8 or 9? He's so fucking traumatized he's self-harming in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. When you hear about kids committing suicide at 10, 11, 12, you can't imagine why in the world that would even enter their minds as a possibility and then you see this and you KNOW.

If screaming curses at his children is what this waste of space thinks is ok to share with millions of strangers, he is without a doubt beating the shit out of them when the camera is off. Also, it is very very clear when you look at his face at the beginning of the video that Mike is NOT sober. These children are in very very immediate danger.

The way he talks to Cody and invalidates his feelings ("it's just a prank, brah!" "No! I need to vlog my life!") is how bullies talk. We hear all the time about young kids killing themselves because they can no longer endure the constant torment from bullies. Cody's bully is his own dad. He's never safe. He knows that his own family sees his pain and vulnerability as a money-making opportunity. He knows that they think it's funny to treat him like shit. Why should we be surprised that he has no choice but to externalize that pain?

This poor little kid. And the kicker is that if you watch some of the clips Phil DeFranco put up (I can't stomach the full videos and I refuse to give those wastes of oxygen any ad revenue or views), Cody has more emotional intelligence than the so-called adults who raise him: "I want everyone to leave me alone so I can calm down!"

This sensitive, intelligent little boy is being treated like absolute shit, and there's vanishingly little anyone can do about it. I doubt that CPS has the manpower or wherewithal to get him and his siblings the hell out of that house.

[Gobsmacked]

Then the father should be taken out. The mother watched very carefully. I'm betting she won't operate without the useless scum she is married to. They feed off each other. Take him away. It's a start and easier than finding the kids a new home.

[ILoveJellybeans]

There is also a video where Cody isn't allowed to go to Disneyland with the rest of the family, because he smeared poo everywhere. That and the self harming are very telling about the poor kid's mental state. This is not normal behaviour for a kid his age, but are common amongst children who are traumatized from being abused.

 

The kids look absolutely terrified whenever he blames them for things. He also threatened to give Cody an "ass whooping" in one episode for getting angry. Of course he is angry, his parents are winding him up. For the kids to react like that to a "prank" of being shouted at (including swearing), they must be actually shouted at like that when the cameras are off too. Probably more, seeing as he have seen the dad push Cody into a bookshelf, threaten to give him an ass whooping, and that the kids always have a ton of bruises.

[mstee]

The amount of terror these kids must feel is horrible. He also seems to play favorites with the kids. If the parents are willing to be such monsters on camera, I can't imagine what kind of hell that home is off camera. The dad seems all wired up on something along with uncontrolled rage. Those kids are visibly scared of him. I've read studies on kids who end up being really sick with a myriad of issues as adults who lived in situations where they were constantly worried and stressed. They think it's due to high cortisol levels and the adrenal glands being overworked. And that's not even touching the emotional scars. 

[ViolaSebastian]

The last, last damn thing you do if you discover your child is self-harming is make a video out of it and trade clicks for your child's well-being. There are not strong enough words for what I would tell those parents. 

[Gobsmacked]

My brother has huge problems because of our narcassist of a mother.

He has spent time as an inpatient on various occasions. He functions in the the world but barely.

Im a year older than him and remember as a very young child trying to protect him, to stop her from leathering the hell out of him. That got me hit too.

Our younger sister is now looking out for him as much as he will let her. They live in neighbouring towns. He lets no -one get to close.

She reminds him by text to attend his appointments etc. He will accept this level of  help but no more. I bought him a whole new wardrobe ten years ago. He is still wearing these clothes, worn out now but refuses to shop. We keep him clothed through Christmas  pressies. He accepts them but never picks them up until a few months after Christmas.

All three of us have had therapy of some sort over the years.

My father worked long shifts when we were kids.  She was clever enough to hide the abuse.

In the 1960s abuse happened. In plain sight of schools etc.

Dad does know about it now. My sister and I have had long  conversations with him about it. He is broken hearted about it but still adores mother.

Those kids, especially Cory, do not stand a chance until CPS/ school/ some one with authority and a Modicum of sense steps in.

Where do the family live?