Mom Who Used Adopted Children for Her Popular YouTube Channel Passes Away

YouTube mom Machelle Hobson, 48, who was accused of child abuse and 30 counts of kidnapping passed away on Tuesday morning in Scottsdale Arizona. 

Machelle Hobson ran a popular YouTube channel called the “Fantastic Adventures” which received more than 250 million views. Her adopted children featured in the episodes aged 6 to 15.

Hobson would caption each of the episodes with different titles such as “The Floor is Lava” and “Escape the Babysitter!” The channel was created on June 17, 2012, and gained 800,726 subscribers eventually. 

The channel kept raking numbers however Hobson’s life took a complete U-turn when one of her biological children by the name of Megan witnessed her mother abusing one of her adopted siblings and reported it to the police. Megan has been hailed a hero due to her brave act. 

Even neighbors reported suspicious activity in the house. Investigators discovered that the house was indeed a “house of horrors.” All her children have claimed that they were physically abused by their mother. 

According to court documents, Hobson would torture the small children by bathing them in ice-cold water, pepper spray them, lock them up in closets, beat them with belts and starve them for days. When these charges surfaced, YouTube removed her channel from the platform. 

Hobson was arrested in March after she was reported to the Maricopa Police Department. She had pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. She was further released in June due to health complications. In August, Pinal County Superior Court Judge declared that Hobson was incompetent to stand trial. 

The judge, however, ruled that her defense team had 15 months time frame which would be sufficient for Hobson to restore her health condition and stand for trial. 

As of October 28, the county attorney’s office received a report that her health condition was improving. A week ago however she stopped eating and taking her medications. Her health deteriorated thereon and she passed away at the HonorHealth Shea Medical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz at 10 a.m.