Former ‘Bachelor’ Star Clayton Echard Says He Was the Target of Fake Pregnancy Scam

Clayton Echard is making new claims against Laura Owens, a woman who falsely accused him of fathering her unborn twins after a one-night stand.

The former Bachelor star, 32, opened up about his history with Owens, alleging that he wasn’t her first victim, in a new interview with Inside Edition.

Echard recalled meeting Owens when she reached out to him about buying a home he was selling at the time. “I shouldn’t have crossed that professional boundary,” Echard told Inside Edition’s Jim Moret in the sit-down that aired Thursday, Oct. 30, adding that he told Owens, “‘Last night was a mistake.’ ”

Echard alleged that he and Owens never actually had intercourse. “I’m dealing with the most crazy individual I’ve ever met in my life,” he said. “She was just taking medications in order to appear bloated… she wasn’t pregnant at all.”

Amid his legal battle with Owens, Echard said he was contacted by two men who alleged she made the same claims against them.

“She’s still probably looking for her next victim,” he added.

In a paternity lawsuit Owens filed against Echard in 2023, she claimed he had fathered her unborn twins during a one-night stand. He denied the claims during a subsequent trial, alleging Owens “fabricated her pregnancy, a condition which cannot have resulted from the parties’ interactions, because according to [Echard] they never had sexual intercourse,” according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE at the time.

In June 2024, Arizona Judge Julie Ann Mata determined that Owens “knowingly presented a false claim,” according to the court documents. A paternity test later revealed that there was “little to no fetal DNA present” and Echard was granted in Petition for Non-Paternity and his attorneys’ fees.

Following the suit, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Arizona investigated Owens’ claims and announced in a press release this past May that she’s been indicted on seven felony charges. Owens pleaded not guilty.

Owens “made several inconsistent statements during a paternity hearing involving” Echard, per the release, and the investigation determined that “between May 2023 and June 2024, Owens altered an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video, and lied multiple times under oath.”

She was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of perjury, one count of forgery, one count of tampering with physical evidence and one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices.

Echard previously spoke to PEOPLE about the lawsuit, saying he wants her to be held accountable. “At the end of the day, I don’t want her to do this ever again to anybody else… I think she’s shown no signs of stopping,” he said. 

“We felt that especially when somebody commits a crime, they should have to face legal repercussions for doing so,” he told PEOPLE in June 2024. “There were plenty of times where I felt like I just wanted to give up and not fight because it just was taking up so much of my energy to do so. But I just learned that sticking to it and really fighting for yourself. I mean, no one will fight for you like you will. So I really learned about just the power of standing for what you believe in and really being your own biggest advocate.”