Woman who targeted ‘Bachelor’ in pregnancy fraud scheme is ‘master of manipulation’: Detective

PHOENIX (Court TV) — A woman who targeted a former reality TV contestant and other men in a pregnancy fraud scheme was sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail and seven years’ probation.

Laura Owens, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, and one count each of forgery and perjury after targeting multiple men with false pregnancy claims.

Clayton Echard, who appeared on season 18 of “The Bachelorette” and season 26 of “The Bachelor,” was one of those victims; Owens named him in a 2023 lawsuit claiming that the reality star had fathered her twins. Owens produced a sonogram image and videos she claimed were of her pregnancy, all part of a scheme, prosecutors said, to get money from Echard.

The lead detective in the case testified at Owens’ sentencing hearing Friday, describing the defendant as a “master of manipulation.” He said, “Her ability is not in her physical strength, but in her focus, her tenacity, and her vindictiveness. She has a thirst for control over her victims, and a clear lust for notoriety and prestige.” The detective said Owens followed the same pattern with each victim:

She’s relentless. Her attacks become more threatening with resistance from victims. She begins with a proclamation of love. However, when rejected, she contrives a pregnancy and begins a barrage of text messages and emails. She attempts to guilt her victims into submission. She becomes relentless in her quest and demands constant contact and reassurance from her victims.

The detective said that while three victims have come forward, he believes there are more. One victim, he said, refused to come forward “because he’s so scared of Ms. Owens and what she would do in retribution.”

Echard appeared at the hearing and pleaded with Judge Jeffrey Rueter to send Owens to prison. “I believe incarceration is an absolute must, because I know, as well as the other victims know, that Laura will not stop until she is removed from her environment. And her environment is the comfort of her parents’ guest house. Her being labeled a felon is not enough,” he said. “Her tears, if she brings any today, are going to be because she’s fighting to keep herself from being incarcerated. Her tears aren’t from empathy. They’re not. She doesn’t feel sorry. She’s just sorry she got caught.”

A letter, written by the woman whose ultrasound image Owens stole, was read into the court record. “Laura Owens is a woman I’ve never met and had absolutely no connection with before discovering what she’d done,” she wrote. “Years ago, I experienced a devastating loss of one of my twins due to vanishing twin syndrome. The ultrasound picture Laura Owens stole was one of my twins. It is the only physical reminder in this world that both twins existed together at the same time. It is the only photo I will ever have of my twins together.” The victim explained that she had posted the photo on a personal blog, “never imagining someone would take it and use it the way Laura Owens did.”

Owens addressed the court through tears. “I’m absolutely terrified of what might happen after I speak today,” she said. “I’m terrified of jail, Your Honor. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But I’m not afraid of being held accountable and if you allow me to go home today I won’t believe that I’ve escaped the consequences of what I’ve done.”

Owens’ attorney urged Rueter to be lenient in sentencing, telling the judge, “Laura’s already been judged and sentenced to something far worse than death by some of the people in this courtroom, along with others who wished desperately they could be here to see this. There will be more documentaries, there will be more podcasts, there will be more attention, there will be more money elevating and nourishing the worst of human instinct that this case has brought out. But only one life, Judge, will be left in ruins after today.”

Before pronouncing sentence, Rueter noted he had the discretion to send Owens to prison for more than a decade or release her immediately on probation. “Nothing makes sense about this. She’s either a sophisticated, conniving, calculating shakedown artist or she’s been engaging in some really poorly thought-out attention-seeking behavior as a result of mental health issues,” he said. “So which is it? Because one deserves one kind of sentence, one deserves a different kind of sentence.”

Rueter said he believed that Owens was “a very sad individual making some poor choices” as he sentenced her to a suspended sentence of seven years’ probation — but he ordered her to serve 30 days in jail before the probation begins. If she violates the terms of her probation, she could be sent to prison for more than 15 years.