Breaking their silence. Jinger Duggar and more of the famous TLC family are speaking out in the wake of Josh Duggar‘s recent arrest.
The 33-year-old was taken into custody at the Washington County jail in Arkansas on Thursday, April 29, and held without bail. One day later, he virtually appeared at a hearing where his lawyer entered his not guilty plea.
While the charges were not read aloud in court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas confirmed on Friday, April 30, that Josh “allegedly used the internet to download child sexual abuse material.”
The press release added, “[Josh] allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019.
The Duggar family previously found themselves in hot water in 2015 after Josh was accused of molesting multiple women — some of whom were his sisters — and admitted to cheating on his wife, Anna Duggar. The pair tied the knot in 2008 and share six children: Mackynzie, 11, Michael, 9, Marcus, 7, Meredith, 5, Mason, 3, and Maryella, 17 months.
One week before Josh’s most recent scandal made headlines, Anna, 32, announced that the couple have baby No. 7 on the way. “It’s a GIRL!!!!!” she wrote via Instagram. “We are overjoyed to announce baby seven is on the way and we can’t wait to hold her in our arms this fall!”
Despite receiving negative comments from followers about the duo’s happy news — including one Instagram user who wondered how they “afford” such a large family — Anna defended her husband as “a diligent worker [who] provides well for our family.”
Anna has yet to address Josh’s arrest, but several members of the Duggar family haven’t kept quiet. Jinger, 27, and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, noted in a strongly worded statement that they “absolutely condemn any form of child abuse.”
Earlier this month, the Growing Up Duggar coauthor opened up about her family’s past struggles following Josh’s 2015 scandal, which led to TLC canceling 19 Kids and Counting. The family has appeared on a spinoff, Counting On, for 11 seasons since 2015.
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“Walking through that season, it was one of the hardest times of our lives. … Our family was way closer because of that, and in spite of that, I guess you’d say,” Jinger told Us Weekly exclusively. “I will never forget how I felt in that moment. And I think even everything that happens in our lives — because we’re in the public eye — it makes it more challenging because then it’s not just dealing with these things inwardly, but you have to give an answer to the world. That makes it a much tougher thing to walk through.”
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Keep scrolling to see how Josh’s family reacted to his arrest and booking:
