Duggar family says real crime is release of molestation records

[RandySF]

he story of improper touching by reality TV star Josh Duggar is also a story about the improper release of juvenile records, Josh's parents Michelle and Jim Bob said in an interview aired by Fox News on Wednesday.

The Duggars' anger over the release of the records helps to explain why they decided to grant an interview at all.

The family stars in the TLC series "19 Kids and Counting," which remains in limbo while Josh Duggar's past acts of molestation remain national news.

But the family seems to be going on the offensive after two weeks of what the parents called an "unprecedented attack" against them.


http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/04/media/duggars-megyn-kelly-scandal/

[PeaceNikki]

1. The In Touch rebuttal is pretty good.

http://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/duggar-interview-7-crucial-facts-they-didn-t-tell-you-the-cover-up-continues-59917

Jim Bob and sympathetic host Megyn Kelly repeatedly referred to the records as being “illegally released.” Not so, say legal experts. That claim is “disputed by the law enforcement agencies involved, the Arkansas Press Association and attorneys with expertise in public-document cases involving the state's Freedom of Information Act,” according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The news outlet reports:

“’I don't think [the agencies] had a choice,’ said John Tull, a Little Rock attorney who specializes in public-record cases. ‘They had to release the reports. Those records are not closed under FOI. The alleged perpetrator had attained his majority at the time it was released, and once his name and all the victims' names were blacked out, it was subject to FOI.’

“The Washington County sheriff's office contacted Zimmerman's office on May 22, the day after the court ordered the destruction of the Springdale investigation report, the sheriff's office said in a statement, ‘to advise her the Sheriff's Office also had records about this case and wondered if her order stated for us to destroy our records. It was at that time she advised us she believes even our records are covered under 9-27-309(j) and we shouldn't release them on this case.’ That section of the law exempts juvenile records from the Freedom of Information Act.

“’However, that exemption does not cover records of concluded investigations when the names of the perpetrator and the victims are redacted and when the offender has reached adulthood, and in regard to which there are no court orders forbidding the release,’ said Tom Larimer, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association.

“That understanding was echoed by Tull and Brandon Cate of Springdale, who have advised newspapers on public-record cases.

“The Washington County sheriff's office also cited five state attorney general's opinions going back to 1992, all stating that such records are not exempt.

Also, did anyone else hear her blame the "lesbian agenda" for the story breaking?

[maryellen99]

2. The police chief is lesbian nt

[PeaceNikki]

4. I know.

But as you can see, the release was not her decision or doing.

[Midnight Writer]

10. She said "there must be an agenda", not "lesbian agenda"

[Rex]

3. .

[shenmue]

5. Oh please with these people

All of them should be in prison for life, and they know it!

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Always the victims.

[CoffeeCat]

7. These people will do everything to deny their own culpability...

This is a sick, sick family.

I am guessing--based on what I know about dysfunctional-family dynamics--that Jim Bob was most likely abusing Josh. Josh was not "curious". He was recapitulating the abuse cycle. He was mimicking what was done to him. Someone more powerful and older--abused him.

And isn't it interesting that this family did everything to avoid therapy--which would cause the truth to come out?

These people do not want the truth to come out. They are so sick.

[KarenS]

8. These people just don't quit.

If I knew them & cared about them I would say "When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging" Will Rogers

However because I really want them all to go away and shut up in the long run, I think they should go for broke now, get loud and get told legally they don't have a leg to stand on.

What they don't get is they are exhibiting classic enabling behaviors by shielding Josh and minimizing his abuse and I'm including the sisters. They put themselves in the public eye by allowing cameras in their lives then began to promote their hateful religious beliefs both on the show and in elections.

I am so disgusted with all of this.

[Snobblevitch]

9. I never saw the television program and

I don't know too many details about this case, I do know enough to say that I don't think the juvenile records should have been released without a court order. I wonder what the girls who were the victims think about the release of the juvenile records?

[Javaman]

11. damn that Freedom of Information Act!

like typical right wing nuts:
Something is only good when it happens to them.
And conversely, something is only bad when it happens to them.
Screw everyone else.