DaddyofFive Youtube Vlogger Accused of Abuse

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

The mother says in that video that the step-mother and father told Emma and Cody that their mother didn't love them anymore. Gosh, just when I think that couple couldn't get any more repugnant. 

Is it sad that I wasn't even the least bit surprised by it? I guess I've seen way too many cases of children being abused while that parent also tries to alienate the noncustodial parent. Those two behaviors often seem to go hand in hand. 

[CrazyLurkerLady]

Ok I only watched the first couple of minutes of the mom's video, but something seems off about her. She was just staring blankly until the lawyer prompted her to talk and then she kind of mumbled everything. I don't know if she's super nervous or on some sort of sedative with all the stress or what, but it just struck me as strange. 

Nevertheless, I am glad she has custody of Cody and Emma. I hope they're still being investigated for the safety of the other children. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, CrazyLurkerLady said:

Ok I only watched the first couple of minutes of the mom's video, but something seems off about her. She was just staring blankly until the lawyer prompted her to talk and then she kind of mumbled everything. I don't know if she's super nervous or on some sort of sedative with all the stress or what, but it just struck me as strange. 

Nevertheless, I am glad she has custody of Cody and Emma. I hope they're still being investigated for the safety of the other children. 

I think she has said she has bipolar disorder so she could be over medicated along with nervous and overwhelmed by the situation. 

It sounds like she has a supportive family that can hopefully help her. And she at least has plans to keep the children in therapy. 

[Gobsmacked]

She looked tired and overwhelmed. The whole thing must have been a horrible shock. To watch those videos, see your own children abused like that by their own father. For profit. To not be able to immediately do anything about it? That would crush most people. The whole event has unfolded very publicly. She must be thinking/ imagining what else has happened to the children when they were off camera. It's an awful lot to get her head around.

She will be feeling a thousand and one different emotions. It's easier to let the Lawyer speak. She never imagined having to make a video like that when she gave birth to the children. 

I just want to reach through the screen and hug her tight.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I am so glad that Emma and Cody are safe and with their mother.

I hope that the authorities are also keeping an eye on the other children, to ensure their safety.

[Glasgowghirl]

I'm glad the mother has the older kids now, they are better off with her. She may have a mental illness but I'm sure with support she can raise her kids better than two sick individuals that care more about YouTube fame than taking care of their kids. What sort of parents tells their child that the other parent doesn't love them. 

 

[ViolaSebastian]

The fact that these kiddos have a family history of mental illness adds a whole new layer of "what the hell were you thinking??" to all this. 

[Grimalkin]

      Whew, I have been  Thinking  about this situation a lot lately, I felt so disheartened because I see so much crap in the news. So happy for the kids, and for Rose. She is bi-polar and seems youngish, I bet she is a very quiet person. She may be troubled, but I don't think it means she will be a bad parent. She is definitely better than those monsters. Her sister has been very involved, it gives me hope to think they have other support. I am sure the community where they live will be supportive too. I was so worried they would blame Cody and continue to use him as a scapegoat. I hope Cody gets to go to Disney other his mom! (I don't think they ever intended to take him to Disney, they probably didn't want to spend that kind of money on him.)

8 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

The fact that these kiddos have a family history of mental illness adds a whole new layer of "what the hell were you thinking??" to all this. 

I don't know if it's speculation or rumors, but it was mentioned Cody was diagnosed with Oppositional Defiance Disorder. 

     My youngest two are the same ages. I just can't imagine.

[Gobsmacked]

Just popped off to find out what ODD is. 

Anxiety is a cause. Cody was anxious all his waking hours. How could he not be?

Any child treated like he was is going to defy the adults in his life.  Its the only way he can fight back to try and gain a modicum of peace.

To label a child  with ODD is the start to a very slippery path indeed. Especially without knowing what the child's homelike and circumstances are like. 

Hopefully now that both Cody and Emma are living in safer hopefully more peaceful surroundings and not feeling 24 hour terror any longer, that poor little boy will be able to blossom and have a bright future. 

I also hope that he is not made to see his Dad by some 'well meaning ' but clueless social worker.

Im not knocking all Social Workers. There are a lot who go above and beyond in difficult circumstances BUT sadly there are a few who don't. ( I've met one or two lazy uninterested ones sadly when #1 was ill). 

Fingers crossed that any Therapists looking after (all) the children are kind, professional and understanding. 

[faraway]

Why is this made even more public? A short written statement that the kids are with her now would have been enough. Does this lawyer simply want to promote himself? I have a feeling he was the initiator of this video.

I hope they are better off with the bio mom, at this point I'm happy they're safe from these two monsters. But I'm still wary, we don't really know much about the bio mom.

[nomoxian]

On 4/26/2017 at 7:34 PM, ViolaSebastian said:

Even if they are "just pranks" (which I really don't see--to me it's just an excuse for the whole family to pile on Cody, who always seems to bear the brunt...), a reaction such as "oh no, there's ink on the carpet!" is much more reasonable than "you little piece of shit, what the fuck did you do?"  One is a "prank," where a kid doesn't appear to fear for his safety. The other is verbal abuse, whether the "pranksters" meant it in jest or seriously. Also, the punch line to a "prank" comes quickly after the set up, or immediately if the pranked person is upset. 

The fact that they had to speak to him like that for him to think the prank was real means they really do talk (err yell) to him like that when the cameras are off. Sick and sad!

[frumper-rump]

On 5/1/2017 at 7:36 PM, Gobsmacked said:

Just popped off to find out what ODD is. 

Anxiety is a cause. Cody was anxious all his waking hours. How could he not be?

Any child treated like he was is going to defy the adults in his life.  Its the only way he can fight back to try and gain a modicum of peace.

To label a child  with ODD is the start to a very slippery path indeed. Especially without knowing what the child's homelike and circumstances are like. 

Hopefully now that both Cody and Emma are living in safer hopefully more peaceful surroundings and not feeling 24 hour terror any longer, that poor little boy will be able to blossom and have a bright future. 

I also hope that he is not made to see his Dad by some 'well meaning ' but clueless social worker.

Im not knocking all Social Workers. There are a lot who go above and beyond in difficult circumstances BUT sadly there are a few who don't. ( I've met one or two lazy uninterested ones sadly when #1 was ill). 

Fingers crossed that any Therapists looking after (all) the children are kind, professional and understanding. 

The abuse definitely made Cody's mental health issues worse. In one of the videos, the abusers talk about him smearing feces in the video where they leave Cody behind from the Disney trip. That is a huge, jumping up and down screaming red flag there is something going on with that child outside his control, whether it's ODD, some other behavioral disorder or a reaction to the abuse. My childhood was spent walking on eggshells and anxiety ridden from mental/verbal and some physical abuse but it was nothing as intense as what Cody has endured. I'm glad he's safe with family and hope he gets all the help he needs. Emma too. I'm praying the older kids are ok. I did hear their dad is working on getting custody, but it may be an internet rumor.

[ADoyle90815]

I don't know if anyone else has seen this, but the New York Times has picked up the story. I just hope the biological mother gets permanent, full custody of Cody and his sister.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/us/maryland-couple-youtube-prank-videos.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

[Gobsmacked]

Hopefully it is a rumour. His father had custody. Him and the evil stepmother. The kids have been removed from his custody. If they are ever sent  back to that man it will be a travesty of justice. 

My childhood was also anxiety ridden. Verbal, mental and physical abuse began as soon as we could talk. 

We escaped aged 16. My brothers life is just an existance even with therapy over the years. 

It is unthinkable that Cody and Emma should ever be sent back to that situation.

[ViolaSebastian]

If they actually put YouTube money into a college fund, I will eat my hat. Mike said himself that his goal was to make enough to buy himself his dream car.

[Gobsmacked]

If they had put the money into a college fund, the chances of Cody making it to college with no lasting emotional/ mental health programmes would have been slim after being abused like he was for X number of years.

[Jess]

On 5/1/2017 at 5:54 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

Is it sad that I wasn't even the least bit surprised by it? I guess I've seen way too many cases of children being abused while that parent also tries to alienate the noncustodial parent. Those two behaviors often seem to go hand in hand. 

Yeah emotional and physical abuse go hand in hand.

[Pukingpearl]

This is so awful. I feel for these poor kids. You don't normally see the horrible abuse children suffer. The only good thing about this situation is there is clear documentation that these parents are pieces of garbage.

[Grimalkin]

15 hours ago, faraway said:

Why is this made even more public? A short written statement that the kids are with her now would have been enough. Does this lawyer simply want to promote himself? I have a feeling he was the initiator of this video.

I hope they are better off with the bio mom, at this point I'm happy they're safe from these two monsters. But I'm still wary, we don't really know much about the bio mom.

    Normally I would agree with you, and I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but this isn't over. They hired a PR firm and the videos are being scrubbed from YouTube. The people who reported this got penalized for showing violence. These parents made a crap ton of money from those videos when they were just pranks. I noticed too that pictures in more mainstream media show the photos from the PR firm. This is getting swept under the carpet, and i bet Rose is going to be dragged through the mud next.