It’s been five years since a slew of scandals related to Michelle and Jim Bob’s son Josh Duggar came to light. The first was that the young reality star, although married, was a part of the Ashley Madison website. The second was that the 19 Kids and Counting star had been accused of molesting five young women when he was 14 or 15 years if age. Josh Duggar has spent the last several years taking legal action after the news came to light, but he recently lost another appeal.
Josh Duggar has been suing the city of Springdale and Washington County in Arkanasas after they gave up police records related to a report that had been filed when Duggar and the young women he had reportedly touched were still juveniles. A lower court decision already said the city and county were justified in turning over the report.
Basically, one reason people even know about the Josh Duggar allegations is because years ago In Touch published an official police report related to the allegations. The police report indicated that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar went to their church first and ultimately opted to file a police report a few months later in Springdale, Arkansas. The report had been hidden but was able to be obtained by the magazine due to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Now USA Today reports that the court of appeals upheld the earlier ruling from the lower court. Although Josh Duggar was younger when the alleged molestations reportedly happened, he was an adult during the investigation in 2006. In addition, the new court noted that the information about the scandal had already been revealed before the report above ever came out.
At the time, we also learned that some of the girls Josh Duggar had allegedly touched were his own sisters. His sisters Jill and Jessa Duggar later confirmed this had happened, although Jessa was quick to note the system let down all of them, telling Megyn Kelly,
The system that was set up to protect kids both those who make stupid mistakes or have problems like this in their life and the ones affected by those choices, it's greatly failed.
Josh Duggar was never charged for allegedly fondling young women during the years 2002 and 2003. However, the information was bad press and advertiser backed out of 19 Kids and Counting. The show was then cancelled on TLC and the family wrote an official Duggar family statement related to the incident.
It is our prayer that the painful situation our family went through many years ago can point people toward faith in God and help others who also have lived through similar dark situations to find help, hope and healing, as well.
The Duggar siblings outside of Josh Duggar are still popular with fans and live on through the TLC series Counting On, which may be renewed for Season 11. We’ll keep fans updated regarding the television show; meanwhile, this current lawsuit chapter has left the door open for Josh Duggar to maybe pursue a civil rights claim.
