Josh Duggar's Police Records Destroyed

[Triana]

Source: Talking Points Memo (TPM)

Arkansas police have destroyed the records of the investigation into Josh Duggar's alleged molestation of five underage girls, a police spokesman announced Friday, a day after the reality TV star resigned his position as head of FRC Action.

Springdale Police spokesman Scott Lewis said Judge Stacey Zimmerman ordered the 2006 offense report destroyed Thursday. Zimmerman didn't return a request for comment on Friday.

"The judge ordered us yesterday to expunge that record," Lewis said, adding that similar records are typically kept indefinitely. "As far as the Springdale Police Department is concerned this report doesn't exist."

Neither Duggar nor his father, a former state representative, returned calls seeking comment Friday.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/josh-duggar-s-police-records-destroyed

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Well now. Isn't this conveeeeeenient?

[notadmblnd]

1. She's a Huckabee appointee. I wonder if he called in a favor for the Duggars?

He was publicly defending their son today.

[Triana]

4. No doubt. And Josh's poppy was a former state representative.

Lots of strings being pulled to cover for the child molesting creep.

[lbrtbell]

23. The INCESTUOUS child molesting creep

Fixed that for you...sadly.

[elehhhhna]

27. no, victim filed suit to destroy them

A sister who wants her name out of it. Good call. The redacted docs are enough

[notadmblnd]

30. under normal circumstances, reports are kept forever

Any non Duggar victim would be denied such a request. It is NOT the normal policy or procedure of any PD or court to destroy a file at the request of a victim.

[elehhhhna]

33. it's also not normal to have a cop cover up and not file a report.

Nothing normal going on here whatsoever.

[Cosmocat]

42. I agree with not

I don't know who is saying what, but a perpetrator's record isn't getting expunged based on anything related to the victim ... this smells like typical right wing bullshit that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but sounds good without any thought put into whatsoever, so most people just say, "ok."

[Bernardo de La Paz]

57. What kind of pressure was the sister under from the family and political operatives?

nt

[shenmue]

2. Where is Elliot Ness when we need him?

[bravenak]

3. Not suspicious at all.

Nothing to see here, folks!

[LiberalElite]

62. Or so they thought till people wanted to look nt

[Stryst]

5. I'd be real interested to hear the justification for this.

The only thing I can think is that it's a CYA operation to cover up the fact that the police just let this happen.

[StevieM]

8. My understanding is that it was requested by a victim who is still under 18.

There is only one Duggar sister (who was born at the time of the assaults) who fits that description. But I won't write her name here.

[dhol82]

34. Doubt it would be a Duggar sister

That family is closely controlled by the father and he wants this permanently hidden.

I would vote for the other family that has been mentioned. Have no idea who they are or how Josh would have had access to the child.

[StevieM]

39. I am not sure if you read the thread that I was responding to. I was saying that Jim Bob Duggar

wanted this as hidden as possible, like you said. The issue was which individual asked a judge to destroy the records. That must have been the youngest Duggar daughter (who was alive at the time of the assaults) because she is the only one who is still a minor, which was the basis for destroying the records.

We know the name of the other victim, or at least her last name. We know the family she is from. Supposedly she was babysitting. And that does raise an interesting question: why did they need a babysitter? Did they not trust Josh alone with the girls?

[Cosmocat]

43. I can't fathom how a victim gets a perpetrator's record expunged

An underage victim, by law should never be named.

If it is, it is a breach of protocal that should be fireable and possibly charged.

It is NOT grounds to expunge a perpetrator's record, that makes no sense.

You want the record of the PERPETRATOR for future reference to investigate, administer or prosecute that indidividual if they perpetrate again - ex. a clearance. You expunge the perpetrator's record and he or she won't have it on file when a clearance is run.

This smells like prototype right wing bullshit. Makes absolutely no sense, but sounds good to most people because they put no thought into it.

[StevieM]

44. You make some very good points. I only repeated what I had read, which is that

the record was destroyed at the request of one of the victims, who is still a minor.

[Cosmocat]

45. sure

I got that ...

Just saying, it smells like bullshit.

[dhol82]

46. You are correct

I misread your post.

Did not know that the other girl's name was already known. You also posit an interesting point - with 19 freaking kids, who the heck needs an additional babysitter? The oldest girl (Jana?) should have been old enough to play loco parentis.

Kind of sick that the sister needed to relive the episode by requesting destruction of the records.

Just wow.

[hamsterjill]

54. So, via extrapolation, Jim Bob wanted the records destroyed.

He is the parent/guardian of the minor Duggar if that is indeed who wanted her name kept out of this. I'm sure Jim Bob has all of the girls fearful enough that they will do/say whatever he "suggests" to them.

Either way, it needs to be explored as to whether the destruction of the records was a legal act or whether the judge erred.

[StevieM]

55. Oh, I don't think anyone doubts that Jim Bob has total control over that family.

They all obey him, as they believe God wants them to. Especially the girls, who are taught from a young age that they were created to be obedient to a man, either their father or their husband.

[JoeyT]

49. Even if that's the case, it makes it worse, not better.

"Well, we've got a girl who was molested by her brother and now the family that's been covering it up for years has pressured her into requesting we destroy the records. What should we do?"

Anyone that answers "Destroy the records" has absolutely no business being in law enforcement.

[StevieM]

51. No argument here. I'm just describing what happened, as I understand it. (eom)

[bluestateguy]

6. Just a good ole' boys...

nt

[Contrary1]

7. A little late...

They are already online. Lots of redacting, which I am glad for the girls involved.

[Triana]

9. Yes seemed a little stupid to expunge them now.

That Prep H has already left the tube. No putting it back in there now.

[StevieM]

10. "It's between the family members and was addressed a long time ago..."

First of all, one of the victims was not a family member.

Second, a crime isn't just between family members. It is subject to prosecution by the people. And it puts the public in danger if he re-offends.

Third, the Duggar girls are in a coercive environment, one which hardly allows them to seek justice, or therapy, in the manner that most benefits them, as opposed to their brother and parents. And one of them is still a minor, which by definition means that she cannot properly represent all her own needs. Does anyone really trust her parents to step up for her?

[Triana]

11. Another factor. . . .

This is a very public family with their own fan following and their own TV show and numerous TV appearances. They present themselves as the epitome of a moral and "Christian" family.

The term used by Time today to describe them and TLC's continuing airing of the show even though they likely knew about this molesting/assault going on as: moral fraud. And that's what they are - frauds.

[jtuck004]

12. Obstruction of justice. n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

15. expunging the record now isn't obstruction of justice

Justice already ended when the statute of limitations ran out. The redacted records are already in the public domain anyway now, and it's not hard to figure out who the victims in the family were. I don't see any problem with the judge granting the request of one of those victims to have the record destroyed for fear of her identity being released, though since they've already been made public that information will likely be found out anyway if it's not already known.

There is no justice to be had now, and no reason for the records to remain in a back file somewhere gathering dust. I have no problem with one of the victims in fear of being publicly identified wanting them expunged and the judge agreeing for her peace of mind despite the fact that her identity is likely already known or about to be known anyway. I'm far more concerned about a victims feeling on the matter than for the record to hang around somewhere for no earthly reason other than to identify the victims when there is no longer any justice to be had by the records remaining.

Yes, there is the issue of the child porn scum trooper that JB Duggar claims he went to reporting the incidents a year afterword having not made any report, but he's already doing a 56 year jail sentence for the child pornography crime, and there is no proof whatsoever that JB Duggar ever went to him in the first place since there is no record that he actually did.

Frankly, I don't believe he ever did and is using this trooper he already knew was in jail now as a cover to claim he went to the police. Now really, does anyone REALLY believe JB went to this person a year after he found out about all the crimes his son committed against his own daughters and at least one other girl when that trooper is conveniently in prison because of a heinous child crime and there is no record of him having done so? I sure as hell don't. The Duggar parents were HELL BENT on keeping their son's crimes under the rug, forced their victim daughters to remain in the home with their abuser, did not send their son to any program as the mother admitted that all he did was work on a family friend's house and never once even considered that their daughters WERE victimized and therefore got them zero help in any way, and even now don't even feel it necessary to MENTION them as victims. In their sick world males get to have whatever they want, and females are subservient to males in ALL ways. That's what this foul Quiverfull movement is all ABOUT... women that aren't brainwashed and emotionally and mentally beaten down to the point of embracing popping out kids until it kills them don't do this. I believe that the Duggar mother is every bit as much a victim as her trained subservient to males daughters. I see her and all the other females trapped in this sick world just as much victims as the women and girls trapped in the polygamy cults.

[AC_Mem]

56. i agree

If this is indeed the request of one of the girls - to help them through this nightmare of to give them some sense of control over their own lives, then by all means give them that. The record is on the internet so it is there, virtually, forever. For those of us who read this awful story, it cannot be unseen or unknown.

The poor girls.

[BlueMTexpat]

13. Now if Josh Duggar had been

African-American, I wonder just how differently this would all have played out.

[24601]

35. What? Are you really implying that if this had been an African American family, the dad would never

have contacted the police in the first place? And that subsequently, it would never have been known outside the family?

I find that offensive.

[Codeine]

36. That isn't what the poster means and you damned well know it.

Being deliberately disingenuous makes DU suck.

[heaven05]

40. pitifully obvious try

at something....but didn't work.

[BlueMTexpat]

58. How am I implying that?

It was not at all what I intended.

You seem to be the only one who didn't get my point.

You can infer offense if you wish, but it seems to me that you have a low threshold for offense and a high threshold for understanding.

[trillion]

60. I think the point is, had the dad been African American the police and the whole system would have

treated him differently. They wouldn't be expunging records.

[freshwest]

14. Isn't the detective who 'investigated' this doing time for child porn? Eewww! n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

16. there was no investigation by the child porn trooper

I'm surprised that anyone believes JB Duggar ever went to this person in the first place as he's claimed. There is no record of it occurring whatsoever, and it's a very convenient cover for him as the responsible parent to claim he went to "the police" to report his son's criminal actions a year after he knew they occurred who just happens to know that said trooper was in jail for child porn crimes. I don't believe for a moment he ever went to this trooper at all. Had he actually done so (which I don't believe for a minute) he had to have known this particular person was not going to do anything about the crime or his own crime of taking a year to go to the police and WHY he knew that the trooper wasn't going to do anything. And if it ever comes out that this jailed trooper denies Duggar senior ever went to him at all who's going to believe a jailed child porn creep?

[Fuddnik]

17. why aren't the rest of the minor kids removed from the family yet?

Even here in fucked up Florida, that would have happened already.

Even if Josh has moved out, they should still consider the parents complicity in the cover-up for at least a year, and the environment.

[Hugin]

20. +1

This is Arkansas after-all.

Considering the Huckster's history of releasing dangerous sexual offenders to kill again, (using the justification that Bill Clinton was picking on him) it's how things are done there.

[Hugin]

19. Very disturbing precedent.

Especially, when the perp still has access to the victims.

[OldRedneck]

21. Josh Duggar police records preserved here

Check out this link:

http://imgur.com/a/zqPMi#0


On the Internet, things live forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[In_The_Wind]

31. The original records shouldn't have been destroyed. Thanks for posting this link. eom.

[trillion]

61. Thanks for the link. I wonder if he also molested the boys since he shared a room with them.

and at least one of the molesting incidents was him touching buttocks and pulling pants down to get to do it. I doubt the boys could come forward. Expect to hear from them in 30 years, if anything happened.

[OldRedneck]

22. Duggar Family Portrait

Everyone who has fondled your little sister's genitals, or, who has been fondled by your big brother, RAISE YOUR HAND!!!

[marble falls]

24. Ist't tbat special, That will keep the kid on things, won't it?

[gregcrawford]

25. Ah, Arkansas!

Where men are men and heifers are nervous. And they ain't nuthin' the matter with incest as long as ya keep it in the family. Hail, they wuz a C&W novelty song glorifyin' it back in the fifties called, "He Was His Own Grandfather!"

(Not kidding. Look it up! Don't remember the artist)

[eloydude]

32. Here's a variaton

Not the original artist, but there ya go..

[gregcrawford]

37. TOTALLY COOL!

That's the one! Thanks! That Dad's one scary sumbitch, ain't he? Damn...

[SpartanDem]

26. Apparently they don't understand in that backwater we got fancy machines that lets us make copies

and send 'em without even visiting Billy Ray at the post office.

[Laffy Kat]

28. This is so corrupt. nt

[Zambero]

29. What's the point?

The equivalent of: "OK dammit, the cat's out of the bag, so let's destroy the bag".

[Hugin]

38. Here's some documents I bet the Huckster would like to disappear.

You see, this isn't Huckleberry's first rodeo.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/04/documents-expose-huckabee_n_75362.html

"Little Rock, Ark -- As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee aggressively pushed for the early release of a convicted rapist despite being warned by numerous women that the convict had sexually assaulted them or their family members, and would likely strike again. The convict went on to rape and murder at least one other woman.

Confidential Arkansas state government records, including letters from these women, revealed publicly for the first time, directly contradict the version of events now being put forward by Huckabee."

[Novara]

41. Did you guys read the police report?

Yes, it's redacted but near the end it also says the parents hit the children with a rod for discipline, but not hard enough to leave bruises. Spare the rod and spoil the child??

All the victims discussed Josh being sent away in their interviews with the police. I wonder if the family made them feel they were to blame. At least they seem to have been taught that sexual touching by others isn't appropriate. And there were two family meetings - after the first, Josh continued. In my mind the parents are complicit because they didn't remove Josh when they first found out about it and he was free to continue his abuse.

[Judi Lynn]

47. How did those young women fare after he molested them, when they had to see him every day?

What the hell would that do to the life of a girl, a young woman who had to keep speaking to him, carrying on as if nothing had ever happened?

Life would have been a living hell for them.

Their parents didn't do any of them a favor, nor did the justice system.

[Novara]

48. Well, girls don't matter

Except as incubators.

[Judi Lynn]

53. That's the way the fundies see it. How sick is that? n/t

[classof56]

50. Perhaps the Duggars should read some Levitical law.

For instance, Lev. 18: 6, "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations." Then there's verse 9, "Do not have sexual relations with your sister..." There's a bunch more verses about sexual no-nos (God got pretty specific), but fundies seem to have a preference for 18:22--"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman" and skip the rest. Thus all the anti-gay rhetoric they spew. Frankly, having never been a Duggars fan (always seemed sorta creepy to me, certainly nothing to admire), I'm not shocked but am certainly sickened by these revelations. Regarding Huckabee, the fact that he can excuse/defend Josh's and the whole clan's actions is reprehensible. Have long wondered why the God they claim to serve put up with them, and if I was still a believer, I might think he/she'd finally had enough. Meanwhile, my stomach continues to churn, though I am sad for all those children.

Peace.

[SoapBox]

52. WTF?

Outrageous.

[trillion]

59. I hope the victims sue.

No wonder Josh wants to have as many kids as he can and couldn't wait to start.