Bay Area radio star's daughter indicted over alleged paternity fraud against 'Bachelor' contestant
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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
PHOENIX - Laura Owens, daughter of well-known and local radio legend Ronn Owens, was indicted Tuesday on several felony charges following an alleged paternity scheme she concocted, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Arizona.
According to Maricopa County Attorney's Office and court documents, Laura Owens was accused of faking a pregnancy of twins, claiming former "Bachelor" star Clayton Echard was the father of her children.
The woman filed a lawsuit seeking child support from Echard before withdrawing her claim, alleging she had a miscarriage.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office began investigating Laura Owens in July 2024 after she allegedly made several inconsistent statements during a paternity hearing.
County officials said Laura Owens went to extreme lengths to manipulate Echard.
Between May 2023 through June 2024, investigators said Owens altered an ultrasound image, faked a pregnancy video, and lied multiple times under oath, county officials said.
Laura Owens was indicted on one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of forgery, four counts of perjury, and one count of tampering with physical evidence—all felonies in Arizona.
What they're saying
Echard acknowledged the indictments on social media, starting his video by saying "justice is finally served."
"I am so ready to not have to think about this anymore. I want to say thank you to Rachel Mitchell [Maricopa County Attorney] and the investigators for serving up justice," Echard said.
"Thank you all for your continued support in helping me seek justice. It has been a long, tiresome road, but we have reached the endpoint of where we hoped to be."
The other side
"As someone who has never been charged with a crime in my life, I am stunned by the seven felony charges announced against me by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. These allegations appear to be the result of coordinated harassment, misinformation, and public pressure in the aftermath of a paternity case I filed against former Bachelor star Clayton Echard," Laura Owens said, in part, in a statement obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix.
In her statement, she also claimed she has been targeted by a "Justice for Clayton" group.
"A faction of Mr. Echard's supporters who built an entire narrative on a demonstrably false claim: that I faked a pregnancy. That accusation became their rallying cry, fueling thousands of hours of monetized YouTube content, Reddit threads, and social media attacks...with obsessive cruelty. The abuse eventually moved offline. The group issued a public death threat against my mother and called in multiple false welfare checks to our home—knowing the resulting bodycam footage would be released publicly and weaponized to humiliate me further," according to her statement.
Laura Owens also shared an image of Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell posing for a photo with a person who is allegedly a "Justice for Clayton" member.
"I will defend myself, fully and relentlessly, through every step of this process," she said.
Dig deeper
Echard was a contestant on season 18 of "The Bachelorette" and was chosen to star as "The Bachelor" for season 26 in 2022.
Local perspective
Laura Owens is the daughter of Ronn Owens, a radio host for KGO 810 AM for nearly 50 years. Ronn Owens is a Bay Area household name, known as the "Voice of Reason" in the region, and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2015.
KGO radio personality Ronn Owens (Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
He has interviewed several heads of state and political figures, including U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to his website. He resides in Arizona, where his daughter is facing felony charges.
KTVU reached out to Ronn Owens for comment about his daughter's indictment, but did not hear back in time for this report.
The Source
Ronn Owens' website, Radio Hall of Fame, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, FOX 10 Phoenix
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