A grand jury has indicted an Arizona girl on seven felony expenses associated to a “paternity scheme” by which she allegedly faked a being pregnant with “The Bachelor” Season 26 star Clayton Echard.
Maricopa County Legal professional Rachel Mitchell introduced the indictment of Laura Michelle Owens on Tuesday, saying the grand jury had indicted her on perjury, forgery, tampering with proof and finishing up a fraudulent scheme between Might 2023 and June 2024.
Owens, who as soon as filed a lawsuit searching for little one help from Echard earlier than saying she’d had a miscarriage, is accused of altering an ultrasound picture, fabricating a being pregnant video and mendacity a number of instances below oath.
Echard posted an elated video to social media when the information broke.
“Justice is finally served,” he stated, including, “This nightmare is over. I am so ready to not have to think about this anymore. … I have not been this happy. This is a weight of two years lifted off my shoulders. It feels good.”
Owens issued a prolonged assertion claiming the fees had been influenced by a web based “Justice for Clayton” motion that led a “coordinated harassment” marketing campaign in opposition to her.
“These charges appear to be the product of intense public pressure, not impartial judgment,” a part of her assertion learn. “They reflect a system that responded to online outrage, ignored procedural protections, and moved forward based on narrative rather than fact. It is difficult not to see them as part of a broader effort to discredit me, discourage me, and make an example out of me.”
She maintains that she didn’t pretend a being pregnant.
Owens’ indictment comes almost a yr after she misplaced her paternity lawsuit in opposition to Echard, by which she claimed he’d fathered her unborn twins after a one-night stand. Echard maintains that the 2 didn’t have sexual activity.
Craig Sjodin by way of Getty Pictures
The choose within the case stated Owens’ grievance was “premature at best. At worst, however, fraudulent and made to incite communication, a relationship, or both, with Echard.”
The courtroom additionally supported Echard’s legal professionals’ claims that Owens, the daughter of San Francisco Bay Space radio legend Ronn Owens, has tried such a scheme earlier than, with the choose saying she “has a pattern of similar, if not identical behavior, and court involvement.”
Owens misplaced her enchantment within the case final month.
A Medium account that seems to belong to Owens posted a prolonged handle in September saying that Echard’s supporters “distorted my genuine efforts to find a way forward with the pregnancy, twisting it into a narrative that I was trying to ‘extort’ him into a relationship.”
The paternity lawsuit, the publish stated, “would force Echard to come up with his own idea of a schedule, see that the court encouraged joint custody so kids could have both parents in their lives even if the relationship between those parents didn’t work out, and also compel him to take a prenatal paternity test.”
