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When Josh Duggar was convicted of receiving and possesing child pornography in Decemeber, father Jim Bob likely hoped that the scandalous headlines surrounding his chidren’s misdeeds would begin to subside.
Unfortunately for Jim Bob, that hasn’t been the case.
Right around the time of Josh’s conviction, the world learned that Jana Duggar had been arrested on child endangerment charges.
And now, a new development is lilely to spark a renewed interest in the sex crimes Josh committed in his youth.
As you may recall, the world was stunned in 2015 by the news that Josh had molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.
In 2017, the sisters who were victimized by Josh — Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and Joy-Anna Duggar — decided to take action in civil court.
But their lawsuit was niot against their brother, nor the parents who protected him from prosecution and attempted to keep his crimes a secret.
No, the Duggar sisters are suing the police department that released Josh’s files to In Touch magazine in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Even though it seems that the release was perfectly legal and that Springale, Arkansas police had little choice, the Duggar women are agruing that their privacy was violated, and they want financial restitution.
This case has been dragging on for years, and the Duggars’ prospects for victory have been dwindling all the while.
The list of defendants has diminished rapidly as one pre-trial ruling after another went against Jill, Jessa, and company.
The longer the opposition keeps this case out of court, the worse the Duggars chances of emerging victorious.
But as the sisters’ efforts to appear before a judge enter their fifth year, it looks like they might finally get what they’ve been looking for.
Local Fox affiliate KNWA reports that the Duggars and their defendants are scheduled to appear at a conference that will be held on February 10.
The proceedings will be presided over by Magistrate Judge Christy D. Comstock, who was also the judge at Josh Duggar’s bail hearing.
As her involvement with the case ended there, and Comstock had no involvement in Josh’s criminal trial, we assume both sides are confident in her ability to remain impartial.
So what’s going to happen at this conference?
Well, in all likelihood, the court will encourage the two sides to try and reach a settlement.
Obviously, an agreement could have been reached at any point over the past five years, but Judge Comstock will likely nudge the two parties toward figuring something out before the case goes to trial in April.
This could be difficult to for a number of reasons.
For starters, the police report resulted in the cancellation of the Duggars’ first reality show, 19 Kids and Counting.
So the sisters might be arguing that it cost them millions in revenue.
The defendants are unlikely to agree to such an exorbitant settlement, especially since the family was on TV just months later with the spin-off Counting On.
Another fact of the case that might preclude settlement is the fact that the Duggars are basically suing everyone in sight.
The list of defendants may have been dramatically reduced from its original form, but it still includes six separate entities:
The City of Springdale, Washington County, Kathy O’Kelley, Rick Hoyt, Steve Zega, and Ernest Cate would all have to agree to the terms of the settlement, which might explain why the two sides have not already reached an agreement.
So it looks as though the Duggars will be returning to court in the very near future.
We’re sure they all remember where to park from the last time.
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