It’s been almost a month since the public first learned of the Josh Duggar sexual abuse investigation, and while Josh has yet to be interviewed himself, his parents and two of his sisters defended his actions while speaking with Fox News.
In both cases, the family attempted to shift the focus from Josh’s molestations to the way they’ve been treated by the media and the allegedly illegal fashion in which police were leaked to the media.
We now know that Josh’s files were never sealed (as was previously claimed), as the police investigation took place when he was 18. The information was released to In Touch Weekly in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.
However, in Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s interview with Megyn Kelly, the reality stars not only claimed that In Touch obtained the files illegally, they also claimed that police chief Kathy O’Kelley had an agenda against the Duggars and may have accepted bribes.
Now, In Touch is reporting that O’Kelley may be planning to fight back against the Duggars and their false accusations.
"Missed last night [the Duggar interview]," O’Kelley said in an email obtained through another Freedom of Information request.
"Not sure they had a good PR firm or how they arrived at pointing the finger of blame at me – I think I have been slandered and wonder what they will say next.”
Kelley does not go into detail about pursuing legal action, but it appears the recently retired chief does plan to see the Duggars in court.
The mayor or Springdale Arkansas has already spoken out against the Duggars’ claims, and now that it’s been proven that the files were released in a perfectly legal fashion, the family will most likely be forced to settle with Kelley out of court.
This latest spat is pretty minor compared with the allegations that prompted the investigation in the first place, but the situation still serves as further ammo for those calling for TLC to cancel 19 Kids and Counting.