Josh Duggar may hang on to his forgiving wife, Anna, but the pair could lose their kids to foster care if their home is deemed unsafe for children. What happens between consenting adults is one thing, but what happens in the presence of children is quite another in the eyes of state law enforcement.
Josh Duggar, who starred with his family on the now-canceled reality TV show, 19 Kids and Counting , admitted to repeated sexual abuse of minor children in May of this year. The known abuse occurred in 2002 and 2003, according to police reports investigating the Duggar family in 2006. On May 22, Anna made a post on the Duggar family Facebook page revealing that she knew of Josh’s incestuous sexual molestations before she married him. Knowing this, she had four children by him. The youngest child, the second daughter, was born on July 19.
On August 20 of this year, Josh Duggar admitted to adultery and to a long-term addiction to pornography. The pornography addiction began at least as far back as 2004 . The pornography he viewed could be illegal if it involved children under the age of 18.
But that isn’t all that could get him into trouble with the law. Viewing pornography in a home where minor children are present could lead to the state’s removal of the children from the home. According to Arkansas Department of Human services, sexual abuse of a child occurs if a child has “indecent exposure” to “the watching of pornography.”
When news of Josh Duggar’s latest sex addiction scandal broke last Wednesday , Josh’s wife, Anna, has been publicly encouraged by her brother to leave “ that pig ” and go to live with him and his wife in another state. (That’s got to earn him ‘hero-of-the-year’ from women everywhere who feel trapped in abusive relationships.)
If Anna doesn’t remove the children herself, she might be forced to give them up to the care of others if DHS intervenes. There is also another reason that DHS might investigate the Josh Duggar family. The oldest child is now required to be enrolled in school, and Anna has expressed her intent to homeschool all of her children. According to Arkansas law, children may not be homeschooled in a home with a known sex offender unless the only child being schooled is the sex offender. Though Josh was never charged with a crime for his sexual abuse of young girls in 2002 and 2003 – because the statute of limitation had expired before DHS was informed – the authorities now know that Josh has admitted to molesting children. (Ironically, Josh Duggar’s father Jim Bob supported that legislation in 2001 when the law was passed while he was serving in the Arkansas House of Representatives.)
If all of that isn’t enough for Anna to be concerned about in remaining with Josh Duggar, there is more. In Touch Weekly magazine just hit the news stands with a report that porn star Danica Dillon had paid, unprotected sex with Josh Duggar twice while Anna was pregnant with the couple’s fourth child. Getting a sexually transmitted disease while pregnant can be tragic for both the mother and the unborn child. At 27-years-old, Josh Duggar surely knew the risks of having unprotected sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant.
According to the exclusive interview, Josh Duggar solicited prostitution, which is a crime in most states and is a crime in Washington D.C., where Duggar was working at the time.
And that isn’t his only recent run in with the law. Identity theft is also a crime, and Josh Duggar used someone else’s photograph on one of his many profiles on dating sites. Hollywood DJ Matthew McCarthy claims he lost at least one job as a result of his picture being used.
According to experts , there is no cure for sexual addiction. Coping skills can be learned, and medications can be prescribed to help control addictive behavior. But the addiction is a life-long struggle and relapses are quite common.
Anna will have to consider if it is worth the risk of losing custody of her children to stay with Josh Duggar.
What do you think? Should Anna stay or leave? Please scroll down and add your comments.
[Intro photos from Facebook]