Jana Duggar is due to appear in court for allegedly endangering the welfare of a minor after her brother was convicted of possessing child pornography material.
- Dec 11, 2021
AceShowbiz - The Duggar family is facing another legal woe amid oldest son Josh Duggar's child porn scandal. Josh's younger sister Jana Duggar, 31, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor after Josh, 33, was found guilty of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.
Jana, the oldest daughter of TLC's defunct reality television show "19 Kids and Counting", received the citation on September 9. Circumstances surrounding the charges are still unclear, but she has entered a not-guilty plea and is due to return to court next month.
Josh, who welcomed his seventh child in October, pleaded not guilty after he was taken into police custody for child porn in April. The sexual abuse material in his possession allegedly featured kids under the age of 12.
He remains in jail while waiting for his sentencing next year. He plans to appeal the guilty verdict.
Before being exposed for possessing child pornography, Josh Duggar has long been rumored to be a child molester. Oprah Winfrey called off her interview with the family in 2006 after being tipped off to the scandal. Investigations were launched after officials were alerted but no charges were filed back then.
The scandal resurfaced in 2015. It's revealed that Josh's father Jim Bob Duggar took the case to an Arkansas State Trooper and family acquaintance, Joseph Hutchens, in 2003. Josh admitted to the molestations which involved his younger sisters Jessa and Jill. Despite the severity of the case, Joseph only gave Josh a "stern talk."
Years later in 2007, Joseph was sent to jail on child pornography charges.
Due to the intense backlash following details of Josh's child molestations, the family reality TV show was called off but it didn't prevent TLC from signing them up for spin-offs.
The family previously rallied behind Josh as he was sent to a faith-based treatment center by his parents to avoid media storm. Even Jessa and Jill defended his brother. Jessa said people who called Josh "a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist" was "so overboard" because she believed it was "a lie really."
