The daughter of San Francisco radio legend Ronn Owens appeared in court once again over claims she faked a pregnancy with The Bachelor star Clayton Echard. Laura Owens, 35, arrived at court in Arizona on Tuesday appearing notably thin as lawyers for both her and the State determined a date for a change of plea hearing.
Owens, who had returned from two weeks of out-of-state travel approved by a judge on April 9, was indicted last May on felony charges of fraud, forgery, and perjury after allegedly falsifying a pregnancy with Echard. In August 2023, Owens filed a paternity petition in Phoenix court, accusing Echard of fathering her twins during a one-night stand. Echard denied the claims, stating that the pair did not have intercourse, as previously reported by the Daily Mail.
In November of that year, Owens testified in court that she was 24 weeks pregnant with twins. Shortly after, she dropped the lawsuit, claiming she must have miscarried when she realized she was no longer expecting. However, prosecutors in a criminal case alleged she had doctored a sonogram and pregnancy video and lied under oath when she accused Echard. She pleaded not guilty.
Court Proceedings and Developments
As she appeared in court on Tuesday, state attorneys and Owens's lawyers set a complex case management and change of plea conference for June 29, as reported by 12 News. Owens's lawyers indicated they would have everything prepared for that date.
Echard previously told the Daily Mail that their one-night stand and Owens's pregnancy claims turned his life upside down. He claimed she became 'obsessed' with him after he ended things and then falsified the pregnancy. Echard, who was The Bachelor on Season 26 of the hit ABC dating show and now works as a realtor in Scottsdale, said he felt 'vindicated' when prosecutors charged her last May.
In October, he told the Daily Mail he believed Owens's mother, former radio reporter Jan Black, was the driving force behind her daughter's legal troubles. However, Black denied that accusation. Prosecutors listed an unnamed 'accomplice' in court documents. 'I don't even really blame Laura,' Echard said. 'I think her mom has enabled and encouraged her daughter and Laura doesn't even realize it.'
Family's Response
Black insisted that her daughter's pregnancy was real and said Laura has been 'tormented' online, hounded by 'men's rights podcasters,' and prosecuted selectively by the state of Arizona. Black said the toll of the legal battles caused Owens to lose a dramatic amount of weight, telling the Daily Mail in October that she weighed just 84 pounds at 5 feet 4 inches tall.
'I genuinely didn't think something like this could happen in this country,' Black said. 'It's absolutely mind-boggling. Apparently, it's the only time there's been a paternity case like this prosecuted.' According to Black, Laura had 'begged the court' to seal the record. 'She wanted this to be private. The prosecutor seems to be saying she wanted notoriety. She begged not to have notoriety.'
The toll on their family has been devastating, Black said. She described a SWAT team raid on their home in January, searching for 'prosthetic baby bumps' and pregnancy hormones. 'Twelve to fifteen guys, guns drawn,' Black said. 'You send a SWAT team for that?' Laura weighed just 84 pounds at 5 feet 4 inches, her mother said last October.
Owens's case has been amplified online because she previously sought protective orders against at least two other men. She accused Greg Gillespie of 'abortion coercion' in Arizona and obtained a restraining order against Michael Marraccini in California. Both men deny her allegations and testified in court in January. Owens's online critics noted at least three legal disputes in a decade involving romantic partners, suggesting a suspicious pattern. Black refuted that, saying she believes Laura was serially victimized by her lovers, beginning with Marraccini.
Echard's Account
Echard's version of events began casually. He said Owens first reached out to him on LinkedIn in May 2023, asking to contact a brokerage he was part of. 'I basically said sure and we exchanged cell phone numbers,' Echard said. 'She started to text me saying she wanted to see homes, then she started to be flirtatious. She sent me a provocative photo and the mood shifted. I said you should come over.'
The trouble began, he said, when he told her he wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship after their night together. 'I was under the influence of marijuana that night,' he said. 'If I'd been sober, I wouldn't have asked her to come over. When I woke up the next day, I felt it was a mistake. She started talking as if we were going down a serious path. I just wanted to be blunt and not lead her on.'
What happened next, Echard says, 'was very eerie.' When he gently told Owens he didn't want to date her, he said 'a switch flipped. It wasn't her there anymore.' Echard said she began sending him five or six angry emails per day, sent process servers to his workplace, and filed to have his Arizona Department of Real Estate license pulled. At one point, he asked her to come to his apartment to take a pregnancy test that turned out positive and 'rattled' him until he decided she was taking HCG, a pregnancy hormone sometimes used in equine care, to fake results. Prosecutors have not confirmed this accusation, and her mother denied it.
Echard said that initially, before he knew if Owens was truly pregnant, 'I thought she had trapped me' and felt a 'harrowing' fear. He added that he is moving on with his life, focusing on his real estate career and a new hobby of dancing, which he showcases on Instagram. 'I totally compartmentalize that experience,' he says. 'I feel I happened to stumble across one of the most crazy individuals I've ever met. The chances of me stumbling across another one? I'm not going to carry baggage from something previous.'
