Laura Owens has pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges stemming from her false claim that former The Bachelor star Clayton Echard had impregnated her with twins following a one-night stand.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Laura pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent schemes, one count of perjury, and one count of taking another person's identity.
Laura could reportedly receive a prison sentence of up to 12-and-a-half years when she is sentenced.
Back in early May, Clayton celebrated "justice... finally served" being served as Laura had been indicted on felony charges.
Laura -- who had claimed she had a one-night stand with Clayton in May 2023 -- originally filed a lawsuit seeking child support from Clayton in Summer 2023, but then she dropped her claim, alleging she'd had a miscarriage with Clayton's twin babies.
In June 2024, Clayton won the paternity case filed by Laura due to a lack of fetal DNA evidence.
The judge presiding over the case also determined that Laura had made "fraudulent" claims and initiated litigation "without basis or merit," and so she was ordered to pay Clayton's attorney fees.
And according to a May 6 press release issued by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Arizona, a grand jury indicted Laura on one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, a class two felony; one count of forgery, a class four felony; four counts of perjury, a class four felony; and one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class six felony.
Per the press release, investigators found that between May 2023 and June 2024, Laura altered an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video, and lied multiple times under oath.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Clayton gushed via social media at the time, "This nightmare is over! I am so ready to not have to think about this anymore... This is a weight of two years lifted off my shoulders, and the guys before me, years lifted off their shoulders. It feels good!"
FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
He added in early May, "It has been a long, tiresome road, but we have reached the end point of where we hoped to be. It's nothing but celebratory dance moves for the foreseeable future from here on out."
Clayton previously claimed that multiple men had reached out to him on social media and said Laura had also targeted them with pregnancy allegations.
During a June 2024 court hearing, Clayton claimed that Laura had "fabricated her pregnancy" and that they "never had sexual intercourse" to begin with.
Laura initially accused Clayton of impregnating her with twins in Summer 2023 and filed paperwork requesting that he take a paternity test and that a parenting plan be established if he was determined to be the father.
Clayton denied fathering the children and maintained that he and Laura had never had sexual intercourse.
Clayton responded to Laura's lawsuit in an August 2023 court filing, arguing the case was "groundless and lacking in merit" and requesting that she be ordered to pay his attorney's fees.
In October 2023, Clayton announced that a paternity test had found "little to no fetal DNA present."
"They said little to no fetal DNA present. Let's go baby!" Clayton celebrated in an Instagram video. "I knew that was going to happen and thankfully five months of torture can finally be put to rest."
ADVERTISEMENT
Months later, Woodnick Law, PLLC issued a March 2024 press release on Clayton's behalf alleging Laura's pregnancy had been a "sham" and that she had fabricated medical evidence.
Laura ultimately admitted she had altered multiple tests to show higher, viable hCG numbers. She also confessed to having shown Clayton an old sonogram from a YouTube video that had been posted seven years earlier.
Laura claimed she first contacted Clayton -- who had become a real-estate agent earlier that year -- because she was interested in purchasing a short-term rental property in Spring 2023.
"Clayton and I met for the first time and hooked up," she wrote in a court filing, according to The Sun.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Laura claimed she spent the night at Clayton's apartment before the pair looked at houses the following morning, and that Clayton subsequently told her he wasn't interested in pursuing a serious relationship.
Twelve days later, according to Page Six, Laura claimed she visited an urgent care facility and confirmed she was pregnant after two at-home pregnancy tests had also come back positive.
Laura alleged she sent Clayton a copy of the urgent care facility's June 2023 test, but he initially refused to believe she was pregnant.
Laura then agreed to return to Clayton's apartment and take another pregnancy test in front of him. When that test also came back positive, Clayton reportedly acknowledged that Laura appeared to be pregnant but maintained he couldn't be the father because they had only engaged in oral sex.
"I wanted you to come over to confirm what I was doubting. And it did confirm that. So, I don't see you as a liar anymore," Clayton reportedly wrote in a message included in court filings.
Clayton allegedly continued to insist he couldn't be the father and questioned whether medication or other factors could have caused Laura's positive pregnancy tests.
Laura also claimed she had repeatedly offered to have Clayton take a prenatal paternity test and eventually paid a $725 deposit for testing in August 2023.
ADVERTISEMENT
"When I told him I was pregnant, he started writing erratic, illogical and threatening messages," Laura wrote in the July 2023 email, according to The Sun.
Laura's lawsuit also accused Clayton of trying to "gaslight" her and alleged his primary concern was how the situation could affect his public image.
Clayton subsequently sought to have a protective order Laura had obtained against him "invalidated" based on what he alleged was a fabricated pregnancy, while Laura argued his alleged conduct was sufficient for the order to remain in place regardless of whether she had actually been pregnant.
Clayton found fame when he competed on Michelle Young's The Bachelorette season. He then starred on Season 26 of The Bachelor, which filmed in late 2021 and aired on ABC in early 2022.
Clayton picked Susie Evans as his final bachelorette, however Susie rejected Clayton when the season's Final Rose Ceremony was filmed in November 2021, saying she didn't think he was her "person" after having learned he had slept with both Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia.
Clayton and Susie then reunited after filming ended and were dating when The Bachelor season's After the Final Rose special aired on ABC in March 2022, but announced their split about six months later in September 2022.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
