Overview
- Joseph Duggar, arrested March 18 after a 14-year-old reported a 2020 assault in Florida, was extradited, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $600,000 bond with no unsupervised contact with minors.
- Arkansas authorities also charged Joseph and Kendra with eight misdemeanor counts each after a home check found locks on kids’ bedroom doors, and both were temporarily separated from their four children.
- Released jail calls show the couple weighing how to pay legal bills by renting their home and selling equipment, with Kendra saying she was exhausted and struggling while separated from the children.
- Emails filed in the case show Anna Duggar offering prayers and warning Joseph not to discuss the case on recorded lines, as brother-in-law Austin Forsyth pledged help for Kendra and Jim Bob Duggar criticized Kendra’s charges.
- As hearings approach later this month, several relatives publicly backed the alleged victim, and cousin Amy Duggar King described the brothers’ arrests as a pattern allowed by the family’s system.