Duggar Family News: Josh Duggar's Sisters Want Judge To Deny His Request To Join Their Privacy Lawsuit
The Duggar household may not be as unified as what they were projecting on screen.
E! News revealed on Friday that sisters Jill Duggar-Dillard, Jessa Duggar Seewald, Jinger Duggar-Vuolo, and Joy-Anna Duggar-Forsyth wanted a judge to deny the request of their eldest brother Josh Duggar to join their privacy lawsuit that they filed against the publishers of InTouch Magazine, the Springdale, Arkansas County and the Washington, Arkansas County and its police officials back in May.
According to the document obtained by the publication, "It would be next to impossible for a jury to ignore the perpetrator sitting next to the victims, yet decide the different issues, different claims and different damages that apply for victims as compared to perpetrator. Consolidation would undoubtedly give the false impression that the victims and the perpetrator are in this together."
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The family has yet to come up with a statement regarding the report, but a legal expert reportedly told the publication that the request filed by the sisters could mean that the siblings are not talking to each other about the case.
"If everything was good, they may want to help each other's legal strategy but here, they clearly have opposing legal interest," lawyer Troy Slaten said in an interview the publication. The lawyer is reportedly not working for the family.
The Duggar's legal drama stemmed from the child molestation controversy that was revealed by InTouch Weekly in May 2015 after they obtained a copy of police documents stating that Josh molested five young girls when he was 14 to 15 years old. Four of the said victims are his sisters, who were also under age during that time.
The Duggar sisters argued in their privacy lawsuit that they are fighting for protection for children who have been abused, since revealing their identities in public could be considered illegal.
When asked about the possible reason why Josh would want to join his sister's lawsuit, Slaten speculated that the eldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar would want to take advantage of the sympathy given to his siblings to make it easier for him to succeed in the lawsuit.
