Amy Duggar King, a former star of reality TV shows “19 Kids and Counting” and “Marriage Boot Camp,” has expressed her desire for her cousin Josh Duggar to suffer for his actions while serving his prison sentence. Josh Duggar, who was convicted and sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse materials, is currently incarcerated at FCI Seagoville federal prison in Texas.
In an interview with People magazine, Amy Duggar King stated, “I hope every day there is absolute torture for him. I really hope that because what he watched and what he was viewing for his own fulfillment is those kids experiencing torture.” She further added, “He deserves every second in there, and I hope he gets a longer term. I hope he messes up again.”
Josh Duggar’s troubled past came to light when allegations surfaced in 2015 that he had molested four of his younger sisters, including Jill Duggar Dillard and Jessa Duggar Seewald, when he was a teenager. The family’s reality TV show, “19 Kids and Counting,” was subsequently canceled. Josh Duggar later admitted to using the extramarital-affair website Ashley Madison and sought treatment for a reported pornography addiction.
The Duggar family’s follow-up show, “Counting On,” was canceled in 2021 after Josh Duggar’s arrest on child pornography charges. Despite his conviction, Josh Duggar’s lawyer has maintained his client’s innocence, suggesting that the illicit images found on a computer at a car dealership owned by Duggar could have been downloaded by someone else.
In 2023, a four-part docuseries titled “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets,” produced by Amazon Studios, shed light on the family’s Christian fundamentalist religion and its association with the Institute in Basic Life Principles, founded by disgraced minister Bill Gothard. The series featured interviews with various family members, including Jill Duggar Dillard and Amy Duggar King, who had a less restrictive upbringing than her cousins.
Amy Duggar King, who has distanced herself from Josh Duggar, stated that she does not know if he is working on himself during his time in prison and has no intention of speaking to him. She firmly believes that there is no coming back from the “evil lines” he crossed.
