19 Kids & Counting: Duggar Sisters' Invasion Of Privacy Lawsuit Dismissed
A U.S. District judge has dismissed the 2017 Invasion of Privacy lawsuit filed by former 19 Kids And Counting stars Jill, Dillard, Jessa, Seewald, Jinger Vuolo and Joy-Anna Duggar. In May 2017, Jill and her siblings filed a lawsuit against Springdale and Washington County officials. The officials they filed the lawsuit against included Maj. Rick Hoyt of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Springdale city attorney Ernest Cate and former Police Chief Kathy O'Kelley. The sisters claimed that officials revealed expurgated investigation files to a news publication that published those documents and disclosed their identities.
The alleged documents were part of an investigation into their brother Josh Duggar's sexual abuse case. According to reports, Josh molested the Plaintiffs who were between the ages of 5 and 11 at the time of the abuse. The abuse started when Josh was 14 and ended when he was 15 years old. Their parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, discovered the abuse but did not report it to the police or state agency. Instead, they handled the matter privately. However, news of the abuse eventually leaked and spread among the family's church members.
Related: 19 Kids And Counting: Jim and Michelle Duggar React to Josh's Conviction
As word spread, officials were notified about claims that Josh had sexually abused his sisters. When state police contacted the Duggar family, they got the sisters' testimonies on the grounds that their statements would remain confidential. However, the information later came out to the public, and the sisters sued the investigative body for disclosing it. However, five years after Jill, Dillard, Jessa, Seewald, Jinger Vuolo and Joy-Anna's invasion lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Timothy L.
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