Ben and Erin Napier’s Laurel neighbors showed their true hometown colors back in May 2021. As Erin explained in a 2022 Instagram post, they were filming an episode of their show when local residents flooded Ben with text messages warning him about a man who had just bought a house just a block away from theirs. He had been seen around town wearing a “Star Wars” stormtrooper costume and an ankle monitor. Worse, the man had reportedly been talking about “protecting” their three-year-old daughter Helen, and even kept a few used toys at his home in case “Helen comes over to visit,” he allegedly said.
Recalling the incident, Erin told People, “Everybody was trying to keep it from me because I was pregnant and stressed out,” she says (she was due to give birth to her second daughter any day). “And then when we got in the car and [Ben] told me what was going on, it scared me to death, gave me chills.” The couple hired round-the-clock security guards for protection; Erin added that they went to court, presumably to get an order of protection. After two weeks, the man was sent back to his former residence.
The experience prompted the Napiers to start a nonprofit called Osprey, which is aimed at keeping young children social media-free. They also refrain from showing their daughters’ faces online. “It further validated what I already knew: protect your kids in the online world much as you can,” Erin wrote.
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