Josh Duggar Tried To Join His Sisters’ Lawsuit Without Their Consent, They Didn’t Want To Sit Next To Him

Josh Duggar didn’t consult with Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and Joy-Anna before attempting to join their breach of privacy lawsuit. According to a new report, the four Duggar sisters didn’t want to sit next to Josh in court, so they begged a judge not to grant his motion to intervene in their lawsuit against In Touch Weekly and Northwest Arkansas officials.

Josh Duggar has confessed to sexually molesting four of his younger sisters as a teenager, but he believes that fans of his famously large family should still be ignorant of this information. Josh’s victims—Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and Joy-Anna—agree with their brother’s position that In Touch Weekly never should have been allowed to obtain and publish the police reports detailing what he did to them. However, they aren’t interested in helping their abuser get a payout for being outed.

In June, Josh Duggar filed a motion to intervene in his sisters’ breach of privacy lawsuit over the release of records describing the sexual abuse that they suffered at his hands. Josh argued that he should be allowed to join their lawsuit because he was also a victim who suffered when his dark past was uncovered. However, his sisters later asked a judge to deny his request. In court documents recently obtained by E! News, they contend that it would hurt their case if Josh were to join them as a plaintiff.

“Deciding claims based on protecting victims of sex crimes from disclosure, while at the same time, having those claims consolidated with the perpetrator of those crimes will be confusing to the jury,” the documents read. “It would be next to impossible for a jury to ignore the perpetrator sitting next to the victims, yet decide the different issues, different claims and different damages that apply for victims as compared to perpetrator.”

The Duggar sisters also don’t want to be seen as being supportive of their abuser.

“Consolidation would undoubtedly give the false impression that the victims and the perpetrator are ‘in this together.'”

According to the Blast, the Duggar sisters allege that they would be traumatized if they were forced “to sit alongside their assailant during a trial.” However, the girls don’t seem to have any issue with being around Josh outside of a courtroom. Last November, the Duggars shared a photo of Joy-Anna sitting next to him during a family trip. He was also frequently filmed interacting with his victims on his family’s now-canceled TLC series, 19 Kids and Counting.

“Forcing the victims to join their claims with their perpetrator’s claims would further traumatize the very victims Arkansas law is designed to protect.”

However, while the Duggar sisters have spent a lot of time around Josh, they may not be conferring with him about their lawsuit. Their response to Josh’s motion to intervene makes it evident that there has been a lack of communication between the parties; had they spoken beforehand, perhaps Josh never would have filed the document.

The legal documents obtained by E! News are likely a few months old, because Page Six reported that Josh withdrew his motion to intervene back in June. However, they may shed new light on why Josh decided to take this action; perhaps he realized that going against his victims’ wishes isn’t the best look if he hopes to win his own case. As the Hollywood Gossip reports, Josh filed a separate lawsuit in July.

In his new lawsuit, Josh Duggar claims that he “continues to be emotionally upset and humiliated by the disclosure of his identity as a juvenile offender and the intimate details of those acts, including the fact that his siblings were the alleged victims.” According to Courthouse News, he also claims that he has been forced into seclusion. However, Josh’s wife, Anna Duggar, recently shared a Twitter photo of him attending a church event with their family.

Grat time w/ @PatchAdventures & friends at North Love Baptist Church tonight & grateful for their https://t.co/J1Ufa40qF2 ministry pic.twitter.com/c4JXEwftV8

— Anna Duggar (@Anna_Duggar) August 21, 2017

[Featured Image by Josh Duggar/Twitter]