What to Know
As Joseph Duggar‘s molestation case continues to play out in the legal system, he and his wife, Kendra, have been dealing with another type of court issue at the same time. In a separate incident, they were both charged with child endangerment and false imprisonment after a search of their home.
But now, it sounds like there’s a big chance their charges will be dismissed as long as they’re able to follow the conditions laid out for them by a judge over the next year.
Joseph and Kendra recently changed their pleas in the case.
Kendra and Joseph originally both pled “not guilty” in their child endangerment case, but they withdrew those pleas during a hearing earlier this month, instead submitting what is called a “plea by order.” Now, we have an idea of what will happen next — at least, where this particular case is concerned.
As People reported, court filings show that the plea by order has allowed them the opportunity to have their charges dismissed as long as they follow instructions from the court for the next year.
The couple was originally charged with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment in March, based on findings from a search of their home that was conducted after Joseph’s initial arrest. At the time, Joseph was already in custody, but Kendra had to turn herself in before she was released a short while later.
Their one-year probationary period began earlier this month.
Starting on August 10, Kendra and Joseph are in a yearlong “advisement period.” During this time, they cannot “commit any new criminal offenses” and will have to “maintain good behavior.” They will also have to follow any court orders they may be given, and they will have to pay a $1,850 fine.
They’re due back in court on August 4, 2027, and it seems that might be the point where their charges can be dismissed if they followed all of the conditions of their probation.
While Kendra is allowed contact with the couple’s four children, it seems Joseph hasn’t yet had any luck with his requests for unsupervised visitation.
This has nothing to do with Joseph’s upcoming trial.
Joseph is still awaiting his trial for the charges related to accusations that he molested a 9-year-old girl (who is now 14 years old) on a family vacation to Florida.
After a pretrial hearing in July, a local Panama City Beach news outlet reported that Joseph’s lawyer, Albert Sauline, said that Florida received all of the discovery from Arkansas and that depositions in the case are in progress. At the time, he also said that there are five witnesses in the case, including his alleged victim and Kendra’s parents, Christina and Paul Caldwell.
Joseph is due back in court on September 15.
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