As you very likely know by now, Josh Duggar groped five young girls when he was a teenager.
Four of these females were his own sisters:
Jill Duggar Dillard, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Jessa Duggar Seewald and Joy Duggar Forsyth.
Both Josh and the women themselves have admitted that this happened.
As you may not know, however, these four siblings have all filed a lawsuit against the local Arkansas police department who leaked information about this incident to In Touch Weekly in 2015.
They believe their privacy was violated at the time.
A civil trial in this case is expected to get underway in April, although it now sounds as if the Duggars are willing to settle.
According to The Sun, paperwork has been filed that would precipitate a "settlement conference," as the outlet wrote the following this week:
"It will be conducted in such a manner as to not prejudice any party in the event settlement is not reached that all matters communicated to the undersigned (judge)... will not be disclosed to the trial judge.
"The undersigned of course will not serve as trial judge in this case.”
As a quick refresher:
In 2015, a 33-page Arkansas police report was released to the public, alleging Jim Bob Diggar confessed to authorities that Josh fondled the breasts and genitals of young girls while they were asleep in the Duggar family home years prior.
In May 2017, Jill and Jessa sued the City of Springdale, police department employees and other Defendants for invasion of privacy and more, claiming releasing the records caused "extreme mental anguish and emotional distress.”
Joy-Anna and Jinger later joined the lawsuit.
Here's maybe the most fascinating thing we just learned, however:
During a Status Conference held way back in April, one of the lawyers representing the Duggar sisters told a judge two things:
- They would NOT be seeking to recoup wages lost after TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting in the wake of this molestation report.
- The women all believe they are permanently scarred from the release of this intel.
“We’re not going to seek any damages for lost wages, lost past earnings or lost future earnings,” the ladies’ attorney, Steven Bledsoe, told the judge during the 2021 Status Conference.
“The categories of damages we’re going to seek -- it’s basically all going to be based on the witnesses’ testimony.”
Our friends at The Ashley broke this news of the Duggars' demands.
Bledsoe stated that the Duggars simply want to win enough in damages to pay for therapy, tellingg a judge last spring:
“[We want] a life care plan involving the cost of therapeutic intervention in these four women’s lives over a period of time to address the emotional issues that are arisen from this nationwide disclosure since they’re public figures.
"And then the emotional distress-type damages and punitive damages."
To be clear, the Duggars are not saying they need psychological help for what Josh did to them -- but, rather, for this scandal to have been made public six years ago.
Elsewhere, this same lawyer basically confirmed what Derick Dillard has been saying for years:
That Jim Bob Duggar stole money from his kids.
Derick and Jill have both said many times that Jim Bob primarily profited from his family's TLC programs, ensuring his children were paid a pittance while he raked it in.
Said Bledsoe in April, after a judge wondered why the Duggar sisters were not asking for any lost wages from the cancelation of 19 Kids and Counting, which wouldn't have happened without the aforementioned leak:
"Frankly, on the way the TV show was set up, the family got most of the money.
"The girls were working, I don’t know what the numbers were, but for 15 or 20 dollars an hour.
"That aspect of the case would take more trouble to try, cost more in experts than we think makes sense because we think that the guts of the case is the emotional damages and costs to these girls.”
So, in conclusion?
The Duggars needing therapy is news. And is also very sad.
But Jim Bob being selfish and greedy and awful?
Not exactly newsworthy at this point, is it?