Woman indicted after claiming former Bachelor, Clayton Echard, got her pregnant, MCAO says

PHOENIX - The woman who claimed former Bachelor star Clayton Echard was her child's father has been indicted on fraud charges, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office (MCAO) said.

What we know:

"In July of last year, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office began to investigate Laura Owens at the request of a Superior Court Judge. This came after the defendant made several inconsistent statements during a paternity hearing involving a former contestant on the television program, ‘The Bachelor,’ Clayton Echard. Owens originally filed a lawsuit seeking child support from Echard, then dropped her claim, alleging she’d had a miscarriage," MCAO said in a May 6 news release.

Owens, MCAO says, went to extreme lengths to manipulate Echard.

Investigators say that between May 2023 and June 2024, Owens altered an ultrasound photo, faked a pregnancy video and lied several times under oath.

She's accused of several felonies, which include fraudulent schemes and artifices, forgery, perjury, and tampering with physical evidence.

Echard responds:

In an Instagram Reel posted on May 6, Echard said "this nightmare is finally over."

He continues, "I am so ready to not have to think about this anymore. I want to say thank you to Rachel Mitchell and the investigators for serving up justice."

Rachel Mitchell, who he mentions, is the Maricopa County Attorney.

Owens responds to indictment:

Owens released a lengthy statement from her lawyer.

"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," her statement read, in part.

She goes on to say she's been the target of the "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—many of which dissected my medical history, mental health,  and personal life 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," the statement continued.

She says the indictment is a result of public pressure, and that she intends "to meet these accusations head-on—and I will defend myself, fully and 
relentlessly, through every step of this process."

Also in her statement, she released an image of county attorney Rachel Mitchell posing for a photo with who Owens says is a Justice for Clayton member.

The backstory:

Echard was a contestant on season 18 of The Bachelorette, and then was selected to star as The Bachelor for season 26, which aired in 2022.