Amy Duggar ‘Deeply Angry’ Over Cousin Joseph’s Arrest, Calls Out ‘Toxic System’ in Family

Amy Duggar says she’s struggling to accept that another one of her cousins has been accused of committing sex crimes against children, particularly a cousin she thought she knew.

In a video posted to TikTok on Wednesday night, Amy said she’s still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Joseph Duggar has been arrested and accused of child molestation, as well as child endangerment and false imprisonment charges.

(Joe is currently in jail in Arkansas, awaiting extradition to Florida, where his alleged crimes against a nine-year-old girl took place.)

“Joe is the last person that I expected [to do this],” Amy said. “I’ve said that in interviews but it’s so true. He’s literally the last person I expected…”

Amy then commented on how strange she felt Joe was acting in the video released showing him being booked into Washington County Jail in Arkansas last week.

In the video, Joe is seen chatting with an officer and even mentioning that his brother had once been in the facility. (As 19 Kids & Counting fans are aware, Joe’s eldest brother Josh was convicted of receiving and possessing child sex abuse materials in 2021.

Before being shipped off to the Texas prison he is currently incarcerated at, Josh spent time at the Washington County Jail.)

“Joe’s [jail] intake video is so strange to me,” Amy said. “It’s like he has no awareness of what is going on at all. He’s charming, he’s funny, he’s good ol’ Joe,” Amy said.

“He’s behind bars tonight and I cannot comprehend that,” Amy continued. “And then seeing Kendra’s video of her going to jail and her intake video. It is the weirdest feeling ever.”

(As The Ashley previously reported, Joe’s wife Kendra was also arrested last week for the same child endangerment and false imprisonment charges Joe received. Her charges are unrelated to Joe’s child molestation charges out of Florida.)

While Amy has been estranged from nearly all of the members of the Duggar Family for years, she has remained close to her cousin Jill. (Shortly after Joe’s arrest, Jill and her husband Derick Dillard became the first Duggars to speak out and release a statement.)

Amy stated that she and Jill feel that Joe’s arrest is bringing up the same feelings they had after Josh’s arrest and trial.

“I was talking to Jill just the other day and we said, ‘Just when it feels like we were coming up [for air].’ We couldn’t breathe with Josh[‘s accusations]. That whole stuff, we couldn’t breathe,” Amy said. “It was like we were in survival mode, right? And just when you think things are getting better…So Jill and I were talking and we were like, ‘We finally caught out breath.’ …

“I can’t speak for Jill but there’s a lot there that she’s untangling. However, it feels like we’re back underwater as a family. Even though I’m very far removed. There is a lot of boundaries in place for all the right reasons. But it’s like you can’t come up for air.”

Amy made it clear that she has not stayed in contact with Joe or Kendra, has never met their four kids.

 

“I haven’t seen Joe in like five years… but back when I was on the show, we had so much fun together,” she said. “So I don’t know the person that he is today, clearly. Clearly.”

Amy— who wrote a book last year that exposed some of the Duggar Family secrets— went on to talk about how messed up the family is.

“There’s a lot of chains holding down people in that family. The generational trauma is so real. It’s so real, that’s why I spoke about it in my book.

That’s why I wrote about it,” she said. “I saw how things were handled and it’s like, wow, it’s literally going down the bloodline. And, oh my gosh, it’s happening again and it’s Round 2. Y’all it’s like a ‘Twilight Zone.’

(In her book, Amy claimed that Jimmy Lee Duggar— the grandfather of her, as well as Joe and his siblings— was a “predator” whom she was never allowed to be left alone with.)

Finally, Amy talked about how badly she feels for Joe’s alleged victim, as well as Joe’s four kids.

“There’s nothing to celebrate here. Another family is broken, the kids don’t have their dad,” she said, before wondering how many other people could have been victimized by members of the Duggar family.

“How many other survivors and victims are there? Then I think of the victim,” she said. “She was nine years old at the time and that breaks my heart,” Amy said. “Who could think that a grown man has a blanket with a child in the same room and that everything’s fine?”

(According to the affidavit for Joe’s arrest, the victim claimed that she was nine years old on a family vacation in Florida when Joseph asked her repeatedly to sit on his lap during the trip, as well as next to him on a couch, and then covered them with a blanket.

She went on to state that Joseph “manipulated” her underwear and “grazed her genitals,” and continued to rub his hands on her thighs. Joe later admitted to the actions when confronted by the girl’s father and police.) 

“I hate that these kids were not taught healthy boundaries at a young age,” Amy said. “I think that [the victim] was groomed to think it was OK. It’s really, really heavy. It’s gross. It’s disgusting.

“It’s a lack of character, and it’s another cousin that I thought I knew.”

Amy called out her cousins for not addressing Joe’s arrest and pretending “like nothing’s going on,” before insisting that she is so deeply hurt by what’s happened because she “spent every waking moment with these people.”

“It’s just terrible to think that so many kids were not protected in this environment,” she said. “It’s a breeding ground for this… I just never thought it was going to be Joe.”

You can watch Amy’s full video below.