Two children from 'DaddyOFive' YouTube videos placed in custody of biological mother
May 2, 2017
Biological mother Rose Hall has gained temporary custody of the two youngest children who appear in the controversial DaddyOFive YouTube videos posted by Maryland couple Michael and Heather Martin, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.
In a video posted to YouTube on Monday, Hall's attorney Tim Conlon of The Custody Place says Frederick County Circuit Court granted Hall emergency custody of the children amid the furor surrounding the Martins' YouTube channel, which featured videos of what the couple called ”pranks" on their children.
Major Tim Clarke of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the agency assisted in carrying out the court's temporary order Friday and helped peacefully retrieve the children. Clarke said the sheriff's office was not involved in the petition for custody.
Conlon told the Baltimore Sun Tuesday that a hearing will be held Friday.
Frederick County court authorities declined to comment Monday, stating that the case was confidential. Conlon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Martins, who live in Ijamsville, Frederick County, sparked viral outrage with their YouTube videos, with many viewers believing the couple's behavior was abusive.
Michael Martin did not immediately respond to a request via Twitter from The Baltimore Sun.
Rob Weinhold, chief executive of the crisis management firm representing the Martins, the Fallston Group, referred a request for comment to the Martins' attorney, Laurie Wasserman.
Wasserman stated in an email: "It would be highly inappropriate for me to discuss the details of this very sensitive matter, or any associated proceedings, publicly. All information will be presented to the Court at the appropriate time."
Hall, a resident of North Carolina, told The Baltimore Sun Monday afternoon that she was in Maryland and reunited with her children Friday. She said she hadn't seen her daughter Emma since 2015 and her son Cody since 2014 after what she said was a tumultuous custody battle with Michael Martin, her ex-boyfriend.
Both children, who were featured in the DaddyOFive videos, frequently bore the brunt of what the Martins deemed ”pranks," which consisted of the two often screaming at their children, breaking their toys and instructing them to hit each other.
Hall first reported the videos to law enforcement in North Carolina in October 2016, but the agency could not respond because it was out of its jurisdiction, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
Hall said in the video posted Monday that she was aided by various YouTubers who helped bring exposure to the videos, after one went viral around two weeks ago.
Hall stated that the initial reunion with her children was difficult.
”Cody had a difficult time when the officer brought him out to the car. He said some things that were disturbing, that he hated me and that Mike and Heather told him that I threw him away like he was garbage and I didn't love him," she said in the video.
”That wasn't true at all."