Amy Duggar King says Josh Duggar should ‘rot’ in prison, hopes ‘justice is served ice cold’ in Joseph Duggar case
Josh Duggar; Amy Duggar King; Joseph DuggarCredit: Washington County Sheriffs Department (2); Amy Duggar King/InstagramKey Points
Amy Duggar King is speaking out about her embattled cousins, Josh and Joseph Duggar.
The cousin of the 19 Kids and Counting stars says Josh ought to “just rot” in prison, while she hopes that “justice is served ice cold” in Joseph’s case.
Josh is serving a 12.5-year sentence for possessing child sexual abuse material, while Joseph Duggar faces a child endangerment case in Arkansas, and a child molestation case in Florida.
Amy Duggar King said what she said.
The daughter of Deanna Duggar — the sister of 19 Kids and Counting patriarch Jim Bob Duggar — has blunt words for two of her cousins who’ve gotten on the wrong side of the law. Speaking with Carrie Berk on Monday’s episode of Fire Chats: The Mindfire Pod, the author and content creator offered her opinions on Josh Duggar, who is currently serving prison time on a child sexual abuse material possession conviction, and Joseph Duggar, who has been charged in two separate cases with child endangerment and child molestation.
Regarding Josh’s repeated attempts to appeal his conviction, Amy offered, “Give it a rest already... I find it comical at this stage of his sentence. Like just rot in there.” And regarding the alleged victim in Joseph’s Florida child molestation case case coming forward to tell her story, Amy said, “I’m so proud of her for speaking her truth, because it is so hard to do... That kind of thing gets shunned. You get shunned for telling the truth. So I hope justice is served ice cold.”
Joseph Duggar’s mugshotCredit: Washington County Sheriff's Department
The Duggar family was catapulted into the national spotlight when a reality show centering on their lives, originally titled 17 Kids and Counting, premiered on TLC in 2008. By the time the series wrapped after 10 seasons in 2015, Jim Bob and his wife, Michelle, had two more children, with the show’s title evolving in suit from 18 Kids and Counting to 19 Kids and Counting.
TLC pulled the plug on the series in May 2015, when Josh, the eldest son of the devout Independent Baptist family, was accused of having molested five young girls — some of them his sisters. Josh publicly stated that he was “deeply sorry” for having “acted inexcusably” with regard to what he termed “my wrongdoing.” The events were alleged to have occurred between 2002 and 2003, when Josh was 14 to 15 years old.
A spinoff, Jill & Jessa: Counting On, which centered on siblings Jill Duggar Dillard and Jessa Duggar Seewald, and featured all of the family members except Josh, immediately picked up where 19 Kids and Counting Left Off. The series ran from 2015-2020, until Josh was charged with receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. He was convicted on those charges in 2021, and sentenced to 151 months in prison without the possibility of parole in 2022.
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Joseph, meanwhile, was arrested in Florida in March on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older. He was accused of asking an underage girl to sit on his lap during a 2020 family vacation and allegedly “[grazing] her genitals.”
A handful of days later, Joseph and his wife, Kendra Duggar, were arrested on a separate set of child abuse charges. Joseph has been charged with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
Publicity shot of the cast of ‘19 Kids and Counting’Credit: Tlc/Kobal/Shutterstock
“I grew up with this person and I loved this person, and I thought I knew this person,” Amy said of Joseph on The Mindfire Pod. While not an immediate member of Jim Bob and Michelle’s family, she frequently featured on both 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On. “Even though we haven’t spoken in, you know, five, six years now, you just assume that they’re doing great. You just assume that they’re they’re happily married, they love their kids, it’s a wonderful environment.”
“It breaks your heart to find out that that might not be the case,” Amy continued, clarifying that she is not in touch with Joseph, Josh, or Kendra Duggar. “It’s honestly not worth it. I have nothing to say to any of them right now,” she explained.
Amy also claimed that she reached out to Joseph’s alleged victim, making it “very clear where I stand, and she was very appreciative. I’ve never experienced the things she’s experienced, but I know she’s such a young girl, and all eyes are on her. It’s scary. I told her I’m so proud of her because she didn’t have to speak out. She could have stayed quiet and given him all the power. Instead, she realized what was wrong and what needed to be said, and she wasn’t scared. I wanted to encourage her as she goes forward in this trial: Don’t let up. Give it all you’ve got. Be a little spitfire and speak your truth.”
You can watch Amy Duggar King’s full appearance on Fire Chats: The Mindfire Pod above.
Source: Entertainment
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