Woman Indicted For Allegedly Faking Pregnancy With 'Bachelor' Star

A grand jury has indicted an Arizona woman on seven felony charges related to a “paternity scheme” in which she allegedly faked a pregnancy with “The Bachelor” Season 26 star Clayton Echard.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced the indictment of Laura Michelle Owens on Tuesday, saying the grand jury had indicted her on perjury, forgery, tampering with evidence and carrying out a fraudulent scheme between May 2023 and June 2024.

Owens, who once filed a lawsuit seeking child support from Echard before saying she’d had a miscarriage, is accused of altering an ultrasound image, fabricating a pregnancy video and lying multiple times under oath.

Echard posted an elated video to social media when the news broke.

“Justice is finally served,” he said, adding, “This nightmare is over. I am so ready to not have to think about this anymore. ... I have not been this happy. This is a weight of two years lifted off my shoulders. It feels good.”

Owens issued a lengthy statement claiming the charges were influenced by an online “Justice for Clayton” movement that led a “coordinated harassment” campaign against her.

“These charges appear to be the product of intense public pressure, not impartial judgment,” part of her statement read. “They reflect a system that responded to online outrage, ignored procedural protections, and moved forward based on narrative rather than fact. It is difficult not to see them as part of a broader effort to discredit me, discourage me, and make an example out of me.”

She maintains that she did not fake a pregnancy.

Owens’ indictment comes nearly a year after she lost her paternity lawsuit against Echard, in which she claimed he’d fathered her unborn twins after a one-night stand. Echard maintains that the two did not have sexual intercourse.

Clayton Echard appears on an episode of "The Bachelor: Women Tell All."

Craig Sjodin via Getty Images

The judge in the case said Owens’ complaint was “premature at best. At worst, however, fraudulent and made to incite communication, a relationship, or both, with Echard.”

The court also supported Echard’s lawyers’ claims that Owens, the daughter of San Francisco Bay Area radio legend Ronn Owens, has attempted such a scheme before, with the judge saying she “has a pattern of similar, if not identical behavior, and court involvement.”

A Medium account that appears to belong to Owens posted a lengthy address in September saying that Echard’s supporters “distorted my genuine efforts to find a way forward with the pregnancy, twisting it into a narrative that I was trying to ‘extort’ him into a relationship.”

The paternity lawsuit, the post said, “would force Echard to come up with his own idea of a schedule, see that the court encouraged joint custody so kids could have both parents in their lives even if the relationship between those parents didn’t work out, and also compel him to take a prenatal paternity test.”