In May, four of the Duggar family sisters filed a lawsuit against the city of Springdale, Arkansas, it's police officials, as well as In Touch magazine, for releasing investigative reports about Josh Duggar's molestation controversy. He has now joined in the lawsuit.
TMZ reported that in the legal documents, Josh claimed cops assured him his 2006 interview discussing the molestation of his sisters would never see the light of day since he was never charged. But then, in 2015, the police documents were leaked to In Touch.
Since the story was made public, he said he's been "victimized and forced to relive the painful and difficult circumstances of a traumatic experience as a juvenile."
The sisters — Jill, Jessa, Jinger and Joy — said similar things in their lawsuit.
After the stories made the mainstream media, Josh admitted to the molestations, which occurred while the girls were all minors.
After the girls filed their lawsuit, a spokesperson for the city of Springdale told Us, "The claims and allegations in this lawsuit are without merit and are false, and we are confident that the Federal Court will take the time to carefully hear the facts and arguments in this matter … It is unfortunate that now, at this late date, the Plaintiffs have chosen to file a misguided lawsuit against dedicated public servants and seeking damages from public tax dollars."
In 2015, several media outlets obtained a heavily-redacted police report which listed Josh as the alleged molester against five girls starting in 2002.
According to the police report, Josh, who was around 14 at the time, fondled the genitals and breasts of the girls, some of whom were sleeping. In one reported case the girl was interacting with him.
Another incident was reported nine months later. Josh then admitted the crimes to his father, Jim Bob Duggar, but authorities weren't alerted for a year.
Rather than reporting the crime in the mid 2000s, Josh's father, the police report said, met with others in his church and decided to put Josh in a treatment program, although the program wasn't dedicated to sex offenders.
Josh could never be punished criminally for the crimes as the statute of limitations has run out.