Josh Duggar Being Sued By Man Who Claims ‘Severe Mental Anguish’

The media went into a virtual frenzy when it was uncovered that seemingly wholesome, upright family man Josh Duggar not only cheated on his wife, who was pregnant at the time but also used the Ashley Madison website which specializes in extramarital affairs. Even more disturbingly, it came to light that the reality TV star of TLC’s 19 Kids And Counting had molested several family members as a teenage boy, and some of them were his sisters. Even more drama ensued when there was seemingly no significant repercussions for molesting his family members, and that the family had allegedly handled it internally.

Many people felt that the Duggar family did not adequately protect their minor children by allowing Josh Duggar to remain in the home. Due to these reasons, TLC decided to pull the show from the air, while Josh went to rehab for sex-related issues. Josh’s wife, Anna, chose to remain married to him, and is now expecting their fifth child. While Josh kept a low profile for a while, he recently seems to have been publicly welcomed back into the Duggar’s good graces, with them sending him a loving birthday tribute on their Facebook page recently.

While his wife and family may have forgiven him, there is one man who has not recovered from Josh’s path of destruction. The man is Matthew McCarthy, a Los Angeles based disc jockey and bartender. Josh used his photos without permission on the Ashley Madison website in order to hide his true identity. McCarthy had no idea this had happened until the scandal broke, and now claims that the scandal continues to cause him serious distress, according to Wet Paint. Matthew McCarthy is suing Josh Duggar, and McCarthy’s attorney, Michelle Iarusso, says that they hope to uncover “how deep the deception lies.”

Duggar will be questioned under oath about his involvement and actions with the website while using McCarthy’s photo, according to Iarusso.

“We need to know if there are people out there who think they may have been in touch with out client, because Josh was pretending to be him.”

They are also concerned that people may have gotten the impression that McCarthy was involved in the molestation scandal since Josh Duggar intertwined his identity with Mcarthy’s. Iarusso says “that makes my client’s forced association with Duggar all the more painful for him,” according to Pioneer News.

“He certainly would rather not have been associated with a child molester. And prospective employers didn’t like it, either.”

In fact, McCarthy claims this ordeal has caused “irreparable harm” to his reputation and “depression, anxiety, and severe mental anguish.” It has also caused him to have limited work opportunities and caused him to be fired from a job, according to McCarthy.

Josh Duggar was served with papers last month that demand that he show up in court to testify as to the extent of his involvement on the site and what activities he could be involved in that McCarthy fears were done while using his photo.

It is not known why Josh Duggar chose McCarthy’s photos to use in place of his own. McCarthy is a muscular young man who bears little resemblance to Josh Duggar. There have been no public statements of damages being sought.

Josh Duggar lost his own employment after the scandal broke. He had previously been a lobbyist who concentrated on family issues. Afterwards, he was reportedly working as a car salesman for a period of time. While life has gone on for Josh Duggar post-scandal, this lawsuit will no doubt be difficult for his family, particularly his children and pregnant wife, Anna. It is unknown if Duggar has secured legal representation for the case.

[Featured Image by Duggar Family/Facebook]