County attorney podcast debuts with big Maricopa case

Looking for a local addition to your true crime podcast rotation?

Pinal County Attorney’s Office debuted its podcast, Courtroom Chronicles with the County Attorney, this morning with an episode on the 2019 “YouTube Mom” case out of Maricopa.

The podcast will air twice monthly with episodes framing criminal justice topics through the lens of solved high-profile cases from Pinal County.

County Attorney Kent Volkmer will host the show alongside PCAO Public Information Officer Mike Pelton.

“I hope this series gives valuable insight to those looking to better understand what we do as prosecutors, including how we evaluate cases, how we make difficult charging decisions and what the true role of a prosecutor is,” Volkmer said.

Episodes can be found on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

Maricopa’s ‘YouTube Mom’

In March 2019, Maricopa police arrested 48-year-old Machelle Hackney Hobson in connection with abusing her seven adopted children for her YouTube channel, Fantastic Adventures.

While the series showcased family-friendly entertainment, life behind the scenes was violent and neglectful. In the podcast, Volkmer described it as “a house of horrors” with “a monster.”

Hobson’s adult biological daughter told police her adopted siblings were subjected to physical violence, being pepper sprayed, locked in closets, starved and dehydrated if they did not perform adequately for the YouTube series.

Hobson was charged with multiple counts of child abuse, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Her two adult biological sons — Logan Hackney, 26, and Ryan Hackney, 28 — were also charged with failing to report abuse of a minor.

The case gained national attention but the family ultimately didn’t face prison time.

The charges against Hobson’s sons were dropped in April 2019, although PCAO did not elaborate why at the time.

Approximately one month later, Hobson suffered a brain injury while in Pinal County Jail and was later declared not competent to stand trial. She was released from jail in June that year and died after five months of deteriorating health.