Stage mother, who called herself the “Madame of YouTube,” settles sexual abuse lawsuit filed by 11 children

A stage mother who dubbed herself the “Madame of YouTube” has settled a lawsuit brought by 11 teenagers who accused her of sexually abusing them.

Tiffany Smith, whose 17-year-old daughter Piper Rockelle runs a hugely popular YouTube channel, agreed to a confidential settlement with the children this week.

The children, all of whom are underage, were part of the “Piper Squad” and created lucrative videos at the behest of Smith, who allegedly bragged about “making child porn” and encouraging the group to act “sexy.”

The lawsuit against Smith accused her of rubbing one of the girls’ exposed thighs and “moving her hand toward her vagina, continually slapping her bottom, and putting her finger/anus over clothing.”

The same victim, identified as Claire Rocksmith, stated that Smith commented on how “big” her breasts looked and tried to squeeze them, and that she once tried to spit in the girl’s mouth.

In a complaint filed in January 2022, 11 teens from the “Piper Squad” say 41-year-old Tiffany Smith intentionally caused trouble for the group while producing content for Piper’s YouTube account

The children, all underage, were part of the “Piper Squad” and created lucrative videos at the behest of Smith, who allegedly bragged about “making child porn” and encouraging the group to behave “sexily.”

Another complainant said she once accompanied Smith to the post office when she mailed Piper’s “soiled training bras and panties to an unknown person.”

Smith reportedly told the child, “Old men like to sniff this stuff.”

Sawyer Sharbino, Donlad Dougher, Corrine Joy, Connor Cain, Symonne Harrison, Ayden Mekus, Hayden Haas, Walker Bryant, Sophia Fergi, Claire Rocksmith and Reese Rocksmith were all named in the initial complaint.

According to the group, Smith would also adopt an alter ego as “Frank the Pug” or “Lenny the Dead Cat” and shout explicit phrases to the children.

“I’ll fuck you in the ass” and “I’ll touch you in your sleep” were both listed in the complaint as phrases used by Smith’s “alter ego.”

Matt Sarelson, partner and managing attorney at Dhillon Law Group, said in a statement announcing Smith’s agreement that he wanted to “publicly praise these 11 children.”

The kids did “kissing challenges” online, some of which were viewed tens of millions of times

“They are smart and brave.” What they went through was grotesque. I look forward to watching them blossom as young adults.”

The children initially sought $2 million each in compensatory and punitive damages.

It is not yet clear what the final agreed figure was.

One of the plaintiffs, Sophia, said the lawsuit “was never about money – it was about making sure she couldn’t do to another child what she did to me.”

“Because of Tiffany Rockelle, my youth was taken away from me at a young age.”

According to the group, Smith would exploit the children on her daughter’s YouTube channel

Reese and Claire Rocksmith are both involved in the lawsuit and are cousins ​​of Rockelle

Hayden Haas (left) and Ayden Mekus (right) are both former members of “Piper’s Squad”

Corinne Joy (left) and Connor Cain, two of the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Smith

Walker Bryant (left) and Sophia Fergi (right), both plaintiffs in the case

Sawyer Sharbino is one of 11 minors named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit

Angela Sharbino, whose son was also a plaintiff, said: “We brought this lawsuit not to change the industry, but to raise awareness that there are predators in every field. This was about holding accountable the person who harmed our children.”‘

Aside from the emotional and physical harm caused to the children involved in Piper Squad, they also say they were financially exploited.

They claimed they were never compensated for appearing on Piper’s page and helping her account grow.

Smith would allegedly post links to the plaintiff’s YouTube accounts on porn sites, which would encourage viewers from the adult-only sites to click in and watch.

This would then be reported to YouTube, which would cause the algorithm to assume that the content of the teen’s videos was “sexual or inappropriate” and thus restrict their viewing.

Restricting viewing would affect their engagement and therefore mean they wouldn’t make as much money from the video.