Amy Duggar King is sharing more about her relationship with cousin Joseph Duggar and his wife, Kendra Duggar, in light of their recent arrests.
“I have no idea where the kids are,” Amy, 39, wrote via her Instagram Story on Monday, March 23, referring to Joseph and Kendra’s four children: sons Garrett, 7, and Justus, 3, and daughters Addison, 6, and Brooklyn, 5.
“I just hope and pray they are being well taken care of and someone is holding them tight and that they are safe,” Amy continued. “Sadly, I’ve never met them, they do not know me. So l’d be a stranger to them. And right now, they probably need someone they actually know.”
Amy also said she hasn’t “seen or heard from” Joseph, 31, in “about five years” and “didn’t know Kendra extremely well.”
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“I have texted Kendra, no response back,” she added. “That was before I knew anything of her being arrested.”
Joseph was arrested on Wednesday, March 18, on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior involving molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older. He was accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl while on vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, in 2020.
The victim, now 14, told police that Joseph “eventually apologized for his actions” and “the incidents stopped after the apology.”
Two days later, news broke that Joseph and Kendra, 27, are also facing four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, second degree, and four counts of second degree false imprisonment. Kendra was arrested on Friday, March 20, and subsequently released later that day on a $1,470 bond. Meanwhile, Joseph is awaiting extradition to Florida.
Joseph and Kendra Duggar/Instagram
An insider with knowledge of the case exclusively told Us Weekly that Kendra’s arrest “has nothing to do with Joseph’s” and was a result of a home investigation.
“After his charge, they automatically do a home study if minors live there. They came to her house,” the insider said. “Apparently, they had two rooms where the lock of the doorknob was on the outside instead of inside. They arrested her and took her kids for that, saying it’s evidence that she wrongly detains her kids.”
Joseph and Kendra have yet to address their arrests. However, multiple family members have spoken out, including Amy.
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“Recognizing that we do not yet know the full picture, I am also praying for Joseph’s wife, Kendra, as she begins to process this, and for the protection of their children,” Amy said in a statement on Thursday, March 19. “I’m praying for eyes to be opened and above all, I pray that justice will be served to the fullest.”
The Holy Disruptor author later amended her statement following Kendra’s arrest.
“I think that was a plot twist that no one saw coming,” she said in an interview with TMZ. “When I gave that [first] statement … that was just the information I was given at the time and thought to be true. Now that the information has changed and there’s more that is coming out and there’s a lot of question marks right now.”
Amy added, “I’m just going to steer that statement towards the kids because that’s what matters right now, is the kids’ safety, the victim and her family, and the four children that were in [Joseph and Kendra’s] home. That is where my heart lies. I’m just going to lay there.”