Four of the Duggar sisters are slapping the city and police officials with a lawsuit for releasing the investigative reports regarding their brother Josh’s molestation of his younger siblings.
According to TMZ, Jill Duggar Dillard, Jessa Duggar Seewald, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, and Joy Duggar filed the suit in federal court against the city of Springdale, Arkansas over the 2015 police documents. The Duggar girls also named InTouch Weekly for releasing the police reports and breaching their privacy.
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The 19 Kids and Counting stars are seeking an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages, according to Arkansas Business.
In the 39-page complaint, the Duggar sisters claim that an anonymous source told city and county investigators that Josh Duggar molested the four of them between March 2002 and March 2003. At the time, the four girls were minors.
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The TLC stars claim that investigators approached them about the allegation, and they demanded and received promises of confidentiality. However, they say that the city and county went back on the promise by releasing documents requested by InTouch Weekly under the freedom of information act.
The information in the reports made it easy to identify which of the sisters were victims of the crimes. The Duggars say that the publication then exposed them as the victims to the public.
“This case is solely about protecting children who are victims of abuse,” the Duggar’s lawyers said in a statement. “Revealing juvenile identities under these circumstances is unacceptable, and it’s against the law. The media and custodians of public records who let these children down must be held accountable.”
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The four girls were stars on the TLC reality show that documented their personal lives growing up in Arkansas, raised by parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. When the news surfaced that Josh molested four of his siblings and a babysitter, the show was pulled from the network.
At the time the accusations surfaced in the media, Jim Bob and Michelle spoke out about their eldest son.
“He said he was just curious about girls and he had gone in and just basically touched them over their clothes while they were sleeping; they didn’t even know he had done it,” Jim Bob Duggar said during an interview with news anchor Megyn Kelly.
[H/T TMZ, Arkansas Business]
