An Arizona mother behind a popular YouTube channel has been arrested on charges she abused the seven children who starred in her videos, locking them in a closet for days without food or water.

Machelle Hackney, 48, was arrested after officers visited her home in Maricopa last week and found that six of her seven adopted children appeared malnourished and underweight.

Hackney is behind the Fantastic Adventures YouTube channel, which has nearly 800,000 subscribers. Its videos have more than 250m views, and feature the children going on escapades such as a “cookie capture mission” and a “super power baby battle”.

Off screen, police allege Hackney brutally abused the children, using pepper spray to discipline them and locking them in a closet without food, water or access to a bathroom.

Hackney was charged with seven counts of child abuse, five counts of unlawful imprisonment and child neglect, and two counts of molestation of a child.

The children told police they were punished when they didn’t perform well enough in their mother’s videos, forgetting a line or making a mistake, according to a probable cause statement obtained by the Arizona Republic.

The children told police they were hungry and thirsty, with pale complexions and dark circles around their eyes.

The children were allegedly kept out of school so they could spend their time acting in their mother’s YouTube videos. They were also forced to take ice baths, according to the police statement.

One child drank three bottles of water in less than 20 minutes while police were there, the report said. Another child, offered chips by police, said she was extremely hungry but afraid to eat them because her mother might smell them on her breath and punish her. One child said she had not been allowed to eat for two days before police arrived.

Hackney’s two adult sons were also arrested for failing to report the abuse to authorities, the Republic reported.

Hackney denied using pepper spray or ice baths on the children, according to police reports cited by CBS5 and 3TV, and said her closet was not used for punishment. She acknowledged she spanked the children and required them to stand in the corner as punishment, in addition to grounding them.

YouTube said it had suspended the ability to earn money through the Fantastic Adventures channel.