Anna Duggar: Cousin Amy Advises, Don’t Stay In A Relationship Without Trust

Anna Duggar’s cousin-in-law Amy King seems to be weighing in on the couple’s situation again, with yet another social media post that would appear quite general and vague, if it wasn’t for the situation in the family and the publicity surrounding it. With Josh Duggar out of rehab, and showing up in public, the discourse on his relationship with Anna has been resurrected — or, perhaps it’s more appropriate to say it has regained fervor, since it never truly died to begin with.

Everyone wants to know: is Anna happy? Does she really have a choice in the relationship? How are the kids? Are they safe, and does Anna have an obligation to get them away from their father?

As far as that goes, the rate at which sex offenders reoffend varies widely from study to study. The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking — or “SMART” — collected stats from a number of studies, including one that showed 5.3 percent of offenders committing another sex offense within three years of release and another showing 39 percent reoffending over a 25-year period. One conclusion about which SMART seems certain, though, is that “there is universal agreement that the observed recidivism rates of sex offenders are underestimates of actual reoffending.”

It’s hard to declare what that says about Josh Duggar or his kids, though, since the stats don’t cover such specifics as whether one who, as a teen, committed a sex crime against younger children, is likely to commit another as an adult against younger children. The statistics do show a lower recidivism rate for incest crimes, so assuming the Duggar kids are in danger would be a slightly bigger jump than considering whether Josh might re-offend at some time down the road.

Without any verifiable sign that the four kids are in imminent danger, their safety, and the longevity of the relationship, falls in great part on the shoulders of Anna Duggar. Without naming Anna directly, Josh’s cousin Amy appeared to weigh in on the decision this week.

Without trust in a relationship you have nothing. Don’t be with someone if you constantly fight, and have a hard time believing them.

— AmyRking (@amyduggar) May 13, 2016

It’s entirely possible that this wasn’t aimed at Anna Duggar at all — after all, Amy has other friends and family members, and could even just be gloating about the level of trust and understanding in her own marriage.

However, Amy, who is in California on a mystery film project (see below), has been vague-tweeting things that appear to be aimed at her Duggar cousins since the molestation report was first released. She’s also candidly ripped the Duggar family’s beliefs and lifestyle a few times.

Of course, there is a large subset of the viewing public who don’t only hope that Anna Duggar takes Amy’s advice — they hope that TLC does, too. They’ve lobbied with the companies who used to buy advertising on the Duggar family’s reality show, leading an ever-growing list of sponsors to refuse any association with anything Duggar.

TLC isn’t saying whether the network’s relationship with the Duggar family is through, but with bonus footage continuing to be released, it seems doubtful.

As for TLC’s relationship with Josh and his wife and kids, that too seems it may go on. While Josh was away, Anna Duggar was featured in episodes of Jill & Jessa: Counting On — including tearful confessions about her feelings over the series of scandals.

The Duggar Family Official Facebook page, intrinsically linked to TLC and the reality series, has even featured photos of Josh and Anna’s youngest daughter, who was born in the midst of the publicity.

https://www.facebook.com/duggarfamilyofficial/photos/a.518180528315601.1073741828.510067475793573/806079569525694/?type=3&theater

Further, the TLC website still hosts content featuring Josh Duggar, such as this news release in which he and Anna announce that their fourth child is a girl, and this collection of photos, as well as Josh and Anna’s wedding.

All along, there have been three “breakup” questions: would Anna leave Josh? Would TLC really dump the Duggars? If not, would TLC at least dump Josh?

TLC’s continued relationship with the family has already been established, and increasingly, it appears that whoever Amy was tweeting about, there aren’t any breakups taking place: not only is Anna sticking with Josh, but there’s no sign TLC intends to dump Josh and Anna Duggar, and their kids, either.

[Image via TLC]