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Doctor finds Maricopa YouTube mom charged with child abuse incompetent to stand trial, lawyer says

Machelle Hobson's attorney said during a status hearing Wednesday that a doctor has concluded after a psychological evaluation that she isn't competent.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The above video is from Machelle Hobson's court appearance in March.

FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP) — A lawyer for a Maricopa woman accused of abusing five of her seven adopted children says her competency to stand trial is in question.

Machelle Hobson's attorney told a Pinal County Superior Court judge at Wednesday's status hearing that a doctor has concluded after a psychological evaluation that she isn't competent.

RELATED: Mom accused of abusing adopted kids says income from YouTube channel varied between $10,000 to $30,000

The Casa Grande Dispatch reports a second doctor is scheduled to evaluate Hobson.

The case is essentially on hold until the competency issue is decided.

The 47-year-old Hobson was arrested in March.

READ: YouTube mom charged with child abuse was hospitalized, her attorney says

She has pleaded not guilty to charges she abused some of the adopted children by pepper-spraying them, striking them with a clothes hanger and making them take ice baths.

Hobson allegedly pulled her children out of school to perform full-time in adventure videos on her YouTube channel.

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