YouTube Star’s Mom Accused of Abusing Young Creators in $22M Lawsuit
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The mother of a popular teenage YouTuber is set to face allegations of abuse from 11 adolescent content creators featured in her daughter’s videos during a civil trial scheduled to start on Monday. Tiffany Smith, the mom of 15-year-old Piper Rockelle, has been accused of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse by children who were filmed for Rockelle’s “Piper Squad” channel. The complaint claims Smith deliberately inflicted emotional distress on the children and describes allegations of “harassment, molestation, and abuse,” also alleging that none of the children were paid to appear on the channel. The lawsuit seeking at least $22 million in damages from Smith and her boyfriend, Hunter Hill, reportedly claims that Smith made comments about kids’ genitals, encouraged the children to be “sexually aggressive” in videos, and that she inappropriately touched children on their thighs and buttocks. One of the plaintiffs also said Smith told them that she mailed her daughter’s underwear to a man so he could “sniff” it, the complaint says.