Kendra Duggar, wife of embattled reality star Joseph Duggar, appears to have moved the entire family out of their Arkansas home. Following her recent arrest and that of her husband, the spouses discussed how they’d manage to pay for Joseph Duggar’s bail bond and defense, and discussed renting out the home and selling some of their possessions.
The couple reviewed options in a March 25 jailhouse phone call obtained by People.
Joseph Duggar, 31, was arrested March 18 in his home state and later extradited to Florida after authorities in Panama City Beach, Fla., interviewed a 14-year-old girl who accused him of molesting her when she was 9 and he was on vacation.
The third oldest of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar’s 10 sons — the family also includes nine daughters — was charged upon arrest with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person over 18. He was extradited to Florida on Tuesday and returned home after a $600,000 bond was posted.
On the late-March phone call, the spouses brainstormed what they might sell, People reported, including some of their trailers, their ATV, a pressure washer and a wood splitter.
She had moved everything out of their family home in preparation for renting the property, the outlet said; they saw renting as a way to provide a steady stream of income in Joseph’s absence. It was unclear where she would be living if their home was rented out, and where the two are living now.
Kendra reportedly asked Joseph to pray for her because she had been “really, really fatigued” after she moved all of their possessions over the two days that followed his arrest.
He noted that she “already had these health issues in the past” and said he was surprised she lasted as long as she did, but People did not specify what those issues might be. She called it all “a miracle.”
The parents of four were subsequently arrested by Arkansas authorities March 20 after a home visit turned up evidence of possible child endangerment including locks on the outside of their children’s bedroom doors. They were each charged with four misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
Although her children could be heard in the background of a March 20 collect call obtained by People, she referenced them being taken from her custody in another call two days later.
Joseph Duggar was arrested March 18 in Arkansas on charges out of Florida and booked on suspicion of molestation. Before he was extradited, he spoke with his wife via collect calls from jail.
(Associated Press)
Kendra was restricted from seeing her four children for a month, according to E! News, which cited emails between Joseph and his sister-in-law Anna Duggar that were exchanged March 21 after Anna and Kendra had spoken. Anna is married to eldest son Josh Duggar, who is serving time in federal prison after a conviction related to child pornography.
“I was amazed with how clearly she thought, how focused and articulate she was in the middle of such heavy situations. She loves you deeply,” Anna wrote to Joseph.
Joseph replied, “I am currently in solitary but they got me a bible so i have been able to stay encouraged. Thanks for the encouraging message! it means a lot!”
Kendra Duggar, who appeared in 79 episodes of the “19 Kids and Counting” spinoff “Counting On” from 2015 to 2021, was Kendra Caldwell when she married Joseph in 2017. The spouses welcomed their first two children on the spinoff, which was created after revelations that took down “19 Kids”: Josh Duggar said he had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter in the early 2000s.
The statute of limitations on those offenses had run out, but then “Counting On” was axed in 2021 after Josh was arrested on suspicion of possession of child porn. He was convicted in December 2021 on two counts of possessing and receiving child pornography.
Then earlier this year, the revelations about the younger Duggar brother came to light. On March 18, details of the allegations against Joseph Duggar came out of Florida’s Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
“Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “As the vacation continued, he also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket. During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals. Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs.”
There were multiple such incidents, authorities said. “The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized [to her] for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
The victim’s father confronted Duggar about the incidents this year, investigators learned. On March 17, Duggar admitted to the father and to hometown detectives what he had done, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Joseph Duggar’s next court date in the Florida case is April 20.
