Joseph Duggar‘s day in court on Tuesday did not go well.
A judge has denied both motions filed by the former ‘Counting On‘ star last month. As The Ashley previously reported, Joe had filed to amend the no-contact order currently in place stemming from arrest for child molestation in March. That order forbids Joe from having any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, including his own kids. It also demanded that the disgraced reality TV star stay at least 500 feet from properties he owns that are near a home his alleged victim and her family had been living in.
During the hearing, Joe’s attorney suggested that the victim’s family was objecting to Joe being around the properties just to “harass” him.
No. Seriously…
As you know, Joe was arrested in March after a young girl disclosed in a forensic interview several sexual abuse incidents involving Joe, which allegedly occurred during a 2020 vacation in Florida when the victim was nine years old. Joe is facing two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior in Florida. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently out of jail on a $600,000 bond.
Following Joe’s arrest, the no-contact order was put in place that prohibits him from having contact with the alleged victim, her family and anyone under the age of 18, including his own children. Last month, Joe filed paperwork in Florida to amend the no-contact order.
On Tuesday, Joe appeared in court via Zoom in Bay County, Florida, while his attorney attended the hearing in-person. While pleading Joe’s case to Judge Brantley S. Clark, Jr. in the courtroom, Joe’s attorney stated that “neither of [Joe’s] biological children are alleged victims in this Florida matter.”
(Joe’s attorney had to make the distinction that Joe’s children are not alleged victims in the “Florida matter” due to the unrelated charges that were filed in Arkansas against Joe and Kendra in March. Each received four charges of false imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child. In that case, the victims have been confirmed to be Kendra and Joe’s own kids. Both Kendra and Joe have pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes.)
The state’s attorney argued that Joe should not have unsupervised contact with his kids.
“This gets a little complicated because Mr. Duggar is the defendant where his children are the victims in cases out of Arkansas,” the attorney told the judge. “And there are limitations on him on the Arkansas case…”
After the state’s attorney made the judge aware of the charges against Joe in Arkansas that relate to his own kids, the judge denied Joe’s request to see his kids unsupervised.
“He can certainly have supervised contact with his children and, of course, I can’t do anything about any prohibitions that the Arkansas jurisdictions [have],” the judge stated.
Joe didn’t have much success with his other motion regarding being able to “visit” and “maintain” his rental properties.
“Mr. Duggar owns a bunch of properties where he is the landlord and [the no-contact order] is interfering with his ability to take care of those properties– whether it be maintenance or landscaping work— due to the regulation of the 500 feet prohibition,” Joe’s attorney told the judge.
One of the homes in question was a house that had been occupied by Kendra’s parents and siblings for years before they were evicted by Joe and Kendra in March. During Tuesday’s hearing, the state’s attorney objected to Joe being allowed near that home, due to the fact that some of the property around that home still belongs to the alleged victim’s family. The state’s attorney also argued that the home had recently been listed for sale, implying that there was no more work that needed to be done.
The attorney suggested that Joe had already done whatever work was needed on the home (despite him being legally banned from that area.)
“ … This was where the victim resided before, and [Joe has] already been going to these properties when this is a place that is frequently visited by the family,” the attorney for the state argued.
While it was previously reported that Kendra’s family had vacated the home, the state attorney claimed on Tuesday that amending the no-contact order would “limit the victim from going back to the property” owned by her parents.
In response, Joe’s attorney then told the judge that he thinks the victim’s family is just trying to make things harder for Joe.
“ … the alleged victim is a child, so I doubt the child is involved much with maintenance or landscaping work,” Joe’s attorney stated in court. “It seems as if the objection– and I don’t mean this in reference to the state– by the alleged victim’s family is almost to harass Mr. Duggar.”
The attorney for the state argued that Joe has a listing manager and property manager for the home, so there should be no reason that he personally needs to be lurking around the home to fix it up.
The judge sided with the state, telling Joe to stay clear of the property. He did, however, state that Joe could send agents or employees to the home to do any necessary work, as long as it wasn’t done by him.
Joe didn’t utter one word throughout the entire hearing until the very end, when he thanked the judge.
Joe’s next court date is set for July 14.
(Photos: Bay County/Fourteenth Circuit; Instagram; TLC)
7 Responses
Not to defend the scumbag but it doesn’t make sense if they have moved that he isn’t allowed to go and do repairs on a property he owns. If they aren’t there then he isn’t going to traumatize her.
F him and his property, I hope it rots into the ground… how can you want any thing for this pedo and his sick family?
It makes perfect sense when they own some of the land, which they do. They aren’t renting the home anymore but the Caldwells still own land, it’s just empty land that they intended to build a home on, eventually. The were renting from the rapist until they could build.
Again, not a huge Caldwell fan, they have plenty of their own issues, but this isn’t them causing any kind of issue. It’s literally the Duggars doing what they do to try and misdirect people, deflecting from their depravity and general heinous behavior, while trying to get what they want and stick it to anyone willing to say nay against them. It’s what they do.
HE and Kendra have no reason at all to be there, that home is up for sale.
So this pretty much confirms the victim is one of Kendra’s sisters.
You know most news outlets are purposely NOT speculating on the victim to protect her, right? Totally gross that a grown woman like yourself feels the need to need to “guess” the victim of SA. It’s not a game.
Ugh….another pedo-loser who has been entitled and things rules don’t apply to him. How many “sickos” can one family possibly have? He needs to face his punishment like a man. The rest of us are held accountable for our bad behavior. Jim Bob is the ring leader to this crazy, pedo circus. Lock them all up. No sympathy for any of them. Btw…joes wife is a brainwashed, loser and horrible mom. I would be protecting my children, not laying down with the enemy. Kendra is alienating her family for what?? You lay down with dogs, you’re going to get fleas. Anyone with the last name Dugfer should NEVER be allowed around young children.
👏👏👏