After last week’s Brangelina cover, In Touch Weekly has gone back to what they’ve done best (literally): The Duggars and their drama. Yesterday, I covered one part of this cover story, which was that Tontitown police officers are being paid by the Duggars to act as “security” when the cops are off-duty. There’s also a story about how the Duggars’ PR guy, Chad Gallagher, ate lunch with the “chief legal counsel for the Arkansas DHS.” Which is suspicious because the Arkansas DHS has an open investigation on the Duggars. I suspect we’ll get more on that part of the story later this week. For now, In Touch has released this new part. One of Josh’s victims – the victim not related to Josh – is going to file a civil suit against Josh and the Duggar family.
A non-Duggar family molestation victim is preparing to file a civil suit against Josh Duggar, sources tell In Touch magazine exclusively in the new issue on newsstands today.
The shocking development means that Josh and his parents Jim Bob and Michelle could be forced to give depositions and testify about Josh’s molestation scandal. The Duggars likely will have to answer every question as they will not be able to invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination because the criminal statute of limitations has expired.
The family is once again under investigation the Department of Human Services and the fate of their reality show 19 Kids and Counting is still undecided. The impending lawsuit sets up a nightmare scenario for TLC: if the network brings back 19 Kids and Counting, the show could be on the air while the Duggars are fighting a lawsuit that exposes all of Josh’s secrets surrounding the molestations and how the family covered it up.
The Duggars will face questions about how many years it took them to get Josh and his victims counseling, what type of safeguards they put in place in 2002 after first being alerted to Josh molesting female minors. “All the church elders who knew about this will have to be named,” a source tells In Touch.
Legal experts tell In Touch the victim still has the right to sue under Arkansas Code Annotated Section 16-56-130, which allows for a civil action when a sexual abuse victim start to experience the effects of the abuse years later.
That’s very interesting. Civil lawsuits can be a refuge for victims seeking justice after the criminal court system hasn’t helped them. In this case, Josh never even made it into the criminal court system because his parents sheltered him for years. As for this non-Duggar victim… I believe this is the then-teenage babysitter? Is this the incident where Josh locked his victim in a laundry room so he could molest her? That incident was part of Josh’s escalating behavior over the course of more than a year and there were so many incidents, I get some of them confused. Ugh. As for the Duggars testifying in open court – we’ll see. I hope this victim does sue them and I hope she takes it all the way to court.
Photos courtesy of In Touch Weekly, Duggars’ social media.
and still no cancellation notice?!?! GRRRRRR!!!!
Exactly. TV Land just cancelled the Dukes of Hazzard because of the rebel flag on top of the General Lee (stupid overreaction, IMO). Yet TLC has a show on the air with a known molester and his enablers? And he brainwashed sisters? One of those girls is going to go rogue one day, like Fred Phelp’s kid, but with much bigger headlines.
I’m pretty pissed about it at this point. I don’t think I’ll be watching their content for a good long time.
What exactly is it going to take for TLC to cancel these disgusting hypocritical criminals? Murder?
Also, Ted Cruz looks like the Count from Sesame Street, if the Count were totally evil. “ONE child predator, ha ha ha!”
Oh man, now I cannot unsee.
My apologies, Kitten.
Geez… can’t undo the ugly perv vibe.
You win the internet today.
Please do NOT conflate me with Ted Cruz or Josh Duggar. Not only can my colleagues at Sesame Street attest that I’ve never run for office, but I NEVER molested anyone.
Your friend,
The Count
One well written rebuttal , ha ha ha, two well written…
I never saw The Count but saw Grandpa Munster from The Munsters.
I *knew* there was something familiar about that face…thanks!
That’s it! I couldn’t put my finger on it but it’s Grandpa Munster. I’d much rather look at Grandpa than Teddy cRUSE
You’re so right !!!
A commenter on here a while ago said that Cruz’s nose looks like a penis to her. That’s all I see now when I see his nose – a weird looking dong.
OMG these Sesame Street comments are everything that’s right in the world today.
Spot on with the Count and Ted.
Good, I guess. It is ridiculous that she can’t pursue the charges in criminal court. She deserves justice, but if the system won’t allow that, then Get. That. Money.
Well that’s what the victims of the priest molestation cases did. They sued the Church in civil court because the statutes of limitations already expired for criminal cases. I say good for her. I hope she sues them for all they have.
Take him and them to the cleaners! I hope they have to pay back all of that money earned from the reality show by spreading hate, mysoginy and ignorance. Maybe that way *gasp* Jim Bob will have no other choice but to let Michelle get a job to help support all 23 chirruns.
It’ll never go to court. I guarantee they settle out of court to avoid having to get on the stand and tell details or be confronted with their lies.
This is what my worry is, too. I hope she rejects every amount they offer and tells them that, if they want to settle, they’ll have to publicly admit what Josh did, and how they tried to cover it up.
otherwise, to trial it goes where they’ll have to admit to it.
Yep. They’ll settle it fast.
Something like 90%-95% of civil cases settle anyway. So odds are always that a case won’t make it to court. But the lawsuit filing itself will be public, so more damaging info will come out that hopefully will lead to the cancellation of the show.
I HOPE HOPE HOPE she files.
I want them to have to admit to all the sordid disgusting details that they tried to sweep away and that this is what will finally get the Touching Little Children network to cancel the show.
but you know that there will STILL be people defending this gross family with this being “an attack on Christians”. such utter BS.
I think the babysitter was the one sleeping on the couch. But I could be mistaken, too. In bed, in the laundry room, in his lap, asleep, awake… just gross how many times/ways/girls and everyone involved is still trying make HIM the victim!
I hope this does make it to court and they don’t pay her off to go away quietly. And it’s a HUGE conflict of interest for the police department that’s investigating them to also be on their payroll, and in what universe does DHS meet with the PR of someone they are actively investigating?! It sounds like the Duggar’s have a lot more they’re desperately trying to hide before anyone can dig any deeper. InTouch was right when they said there’s so much more to this story.
The article I read yesterday said the victim was filing suit because she angry about the the way the nature of the attack upon her was portrayed by the Duggars; their version of things made her decide to purse a civil case so the truth would be known.
So, if that is true, that might preclude just a quiet cash settlement alone.
Oh that bodes well for a trial if that’s what her motivations are.
Here. The language I am referring to is on Page SIx —
http://pagesix.com/2015/07/01/non-family-molestation-victim-plans-to-sue-josh-duggar/
““I have heard that a [non-family] victim is preparing to sue,” a “law enforcement insider” told In Touch. “This whole sordid affair with Josh rattled a lot of people, including the victim, who has had to relive this nightmare all over again after watching Josh’s parents go on TV and whitewash what happened.”
I hope so. If my attacker’s family went on the air claiming it was just a “mistake” and poor Christian us, everybody hates us, my blood would be boiling. I hope she gets the truth out for her own peace of mind.
Me too. And if she does this, she stands up for victims everywhere.
The Duggars treated it like it was no big deal and everyone had moved on. Trauma can alter the brain and make it difficult for a victim to get over what happened to them. If this victim is having difficulties due to the assault, I can imagine it would be very upsetting to hear that it was a mistake and everything is ok now. I also wonder if she and her family knew at the time that Josh never received any professional help and if they were aware of the cover up to avoid criminal prosecution. If they didn’t know, I can imagine they’d be extremely upset finding this all out now.
TLC is such a piece of shit.
It really is disgusting. I shouldn’t be surprised that all they care about is money, yet this still surprises me.
My daughter and I were watching The Little Couple (about the only non-skeevy TLC show) and I noticed promos for a LOT of new shows. i got the sense that TLC is quickly filling the Duggar void. Hope so.
I do love The Little Couple. One of the few shows on TLC where the people seem decent and genuine.
To add: I haven’t watched anything on TLC though since the Duggar scandal broke and won’t until they officially cancel the show.
I went to college with Jen Arnold. She actually is as nice as she seems on TV. Which is the only reason TLC ever comes on in my house. But I have to agree with Kitten, TLC is such a piece of shit.
I can see how all this coming up now and Josh’s smug face saying God forgave him for “normal curiosity” (barf) would be emotionally distressing to this girl. I hope this goes to court and is not settled. Drag him through the mud.
I would really like to know how he knows God forgave him? Did God call and tell him? Send an email?
God sent a message through the tooth fairy.
He spoke to them via the big white telephone.
Normal curiosity my a##. If he’s curious about the female body, he should do what every young teenage boy does – buy a copy of Playboy.
Or if he dated like a normal teen, he and the consenting gf would be curious together.
I applaud this young woman for her bravery, and for standing up and saying no, I do not “forgive him” like his family is claiming, and something needs to be done. I’m imagining that if she was their babysitter, she is/was connected to their church in some way, and if so, that’s extra brave of her. I hope somehow she was aware of how much support there is out there for her and the other victims, despite a few crazies defending the family.
I’m sure they will all lie, but it will be interesting to see what comes of him, and everyone who helped cover up his gross crimes, having to testify under oath.
Good.
I hope the victim sues for everything she can get from this creep. Since she was denied real justice (ie. Jail for Josh), she needs to hurt his wallet. I believe in karma, so I know the Duggar parents, Josh and anyone who helped cover this up, will get Devine justice.
On a superficial note, this family just LOOKS creepy. How can people watch them on TV?
…and WHY are they wearing clashing shades of green for a photo together? I mean if you’re gonna be all matchy-matchy then match da**it!
While I’d love to see this in open court, and watch them squirm, it’ll settle out of court with a secrecy agreement. Getting past the Statute of Limitations issue is a lot tougher than the quote makes it seem. The additional time for effects discovered years later was originally meant to help victims who had repressed memories of the abuse and missed the filing date before even realizing they had been abused. It wasn’t meant for victims who were aware of the abuse and their options and chose not to pursue it.
That’s a big hurdle to overcome, especially in a conservative judicial state. It’s a big risk to turn down a settlement offer without even being sure you can get your case past the first hurdle.
I doubt this will make it to the discovery stage without settlement. Meanwhile, the Arkansas DHS and several local police departments seem to have some ethics issues going on.
I think the babysitter was (suposedly) sleeping on the couch & (according to Jim Bob) didn’t know anything had happened until Josh confessed to his parents & they made him call her & apologize. Although that whole story is weird. Why would the babysitter be asleep on the job?
I also think it’s weird that the babysitter and all the girls all stayed asleep during Josh’s gross feeling up sessions. My tin foil firmly placed is suspecting some Bill Cosby special pills placed in some hot chocolate. Parents could have had some sleeping pills that Josh got a hold of.
Babysitters sleep on couches when the parentals are out late and the kids are in bed, just as parents do in their bedrooms. The idea is to have a responsible person there to deal with routine and emergency situations. If you want someone who stays awake all the time, hire a bodyguard.
Whenever i look at his smug face i want to punch my screen but i can’t as i can’t afford to replace it.
I really hope this see’s the light of a court room but it won’t – they will pay her off and prob use ‘church’ elders to help silence her as she is prob within the same ‘community’ as them.
This family need to pay for what they did. Instead they are getting away with covering it up AGAIN by using their fame to buy people – just like they when it first happened.
I would like to see how well they hold up their fake smiles when they have to write that big check. Jim Bob will probably grow horns.
That, or grow fur and turn predatory
They’re already predatory. Hence the check.
i hope that weird quiverfull community doesnt silkwood her or her parents until they back down