What to Know
As Joseph Duggar awaits his trial in the Florida case involving his alleged sexual assault of a minor, he and his wife, Kendra Duggar, are still on the hook for their totally separate child endangerment case, and now, there’s been an update.
On August 10, both Joseph and Kendra withdrew their “not guilty” pleas in court, and instead, their cases will remain diverted for the next 12 months, which could ultimately benefit them in the long run.
Joseph and Kendra have submitted a plea by order of the court.
When Joseph was accused of allegedly abusing a 9-year-old girl earlier this year, an investigation was carried out at the home he and Kendra share with their own children. Following the investigation, both Joseph and Kendra were hit with charges of child endangerment and false imprisonment, which led to Kendra turning herself in before she was released from jail less than an hour later.
Now, their case is progressing. Though they originally entered “not guilty” pleas, according to People, the couple has withdrawn those pleas.
On Monday, they were set to appear in court, but instead, they submitted a plea by order to the court, which means they will plea either “guilty” or “no contest.”
This means that their case will be diverted for 12 months.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported that Kendra and Joseph changing their plea allowed their case to be diverted for the next year. This usually means that the person being charged can avoid a trial under certain conditions for a period of time and can allow them to avoid having a criminal conviction on their record.
This could mean that Kendra and Joseph are required to take parenting classes, do community service, pay fines, go to therapy, or any other number of activities that a judge sees fit.
The exact conditions of Kendra and Joseph’s diversion haven’t been made public, though, but the case will still remain open over the next year.
They could still face time behind bars, though.
With the diversion in place, a judge will determine what the punishment for the couple will be, and as People notes, jail time isn’t completely off the table at this point. Now, without a trial, they will have to wait to find out what a judge decides their fate will be.
And of course, since this particular case has nothing to do with the other open case against Joseph, the couple’s legal troubles will likely continue beyond the next 12 months, especially for Joseph.
As far as we know, right now, Kendra is the only one between the two of them who is allowed to see their children unsupervised. In July, Joseph asked a judge for permission to spend unsupervised time with their kids, but he was denied.
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