Arkansas police has wiped out record detailing a nearly-decade-old investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the oldest son of '19 Kids and Counting' family.
- May 24, 2015
AceShowbiz - Police has destroyed the record of a sexual misconduct case involving the oldest son of "19 Kids and Counting" family, Josh Duggar. A rep for Springdale Police, Scott Lewis, says Judge Stacey Zimmerman gave the order to wipe out the record.
"The judge ordered us yesterday to expunge that record," Lewis reveals to Associated Press, adding that similar records are typically kept indefinitely. "As far as the Springdale Police Department is concerned this report doesn't exist."
The investigation dated back in 2006 after Oprah Winfrey who was about to interview the Duggars received a letter saying that Josh fondled minor girls when he was a juvenile. The case is nearly a decade old but it made headlines only recently after the police report landed online.
Josh, now a 27-year-old father of three who is expecting his fourth child with wife Anna, apologized for his "inexcusable" behaviors. "I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions. In my life today, I am so very thankful for God's grace, mercy and redemption," he said.
As the conservative family, whose patriarch is a former state representative, receives backlash, several Republican politicians come to their defense. Republican presidential nominee Mike Huckabee posted on Facebook, "Those who have enjoyed revealing this long ago sins in order to discredit the Duggar family have actually revealed their own insensitive bloodthirst, for there was no consideration of the fact that the victims wanted this to be left in the past and ultimately a judge had the information on file destroyed - not to protect Josh, but the innocent victims."
