Kendra Duggar is fighting the criminal charges she received last month for endangering the welfare of a minor and false imprisonment and has scored a big legal win that will allow her to reestablish contact with her four kids.
TMZ revealed on Monday that the former Counting On star’s lawyer Travis Story (who Duggar fans may remember from being Josh Duggar‘s criminal defense attorney a few years back) entered a plea of not guilty on Kendra’s behalf at her recent court hearing.
As The Ashley previously reported, Kendra— who is married to Joseph Duggar— was arrested last month and charged with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, as well as four counts of second-degree false imprisonment. She was hauled into jail, booked and released. Joe received the same charges as Kendra; however, he was already in jail, being held without bond after being charged days before for child molestation for an alleged incident that occurred in Florida in 2020.
In order to be released from jail on bond, Kendra had to agree that she would “have no contact by telephone (including text), in person, by computer (including email), or through other people in any manner” with the victims. (Phone calls between Kendra and Joe while Joe was in jail later revealed that the alleged victims are the couple’s four children.)
According to TMZ, Kendra’s lawyer was reportedly successful in having the no-contact order from March 20 lifted for Kendra.
“Her legal team… [argued] the alleged victims wanted contact with Kendra restored, that she had complied with all conditions of the order, and that continued restrictions were preventing important third-party evaluations tied to the case,” the site reported.
The judge has reportedly signed to have the no-contact order dissolved. Arkansas DHS will “supervise and help facilitate reunifications between Kendra and the individuals who were previously protected under the order.” The couple both had court hearings scheduled for April 29; it is likely that those hearings are for the criminal charges against them. (This hearing was likely held for family court.)
As The Ashley reported last month, a spokesperson for the Duggar Family stated publicly that Kendra’s charges in Arkansas are “unrelated” to Joe’s child molestation charges from Florida, and that Kendra is “not suspected of accusing of participating in his alleged crime.” Us Weekly reported that Kendra and Joe’s home was searched by the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), as well as the Tontitown, Arkansas, Police Department on March 19, which led to the endangerment and false imprisonment charges.
“After his charge, they automatically do a home study if minors live there. They came to her house,” Us Weekly reported. “Apparently, they had two rooms where the lock of the doorknob was on the outside instead of inside. They arrested her and took her kids for that, saying it’s evidence that she wrongly detains her kids.”(This story regarding the reason for the arrests in Arkansas has not been confirmed via police or court records as of press time, just FYI.)
It is unknown if Joe is allowed near their kids. A condition of his bond for the Lewd and Lascivious Conduct and Molestation charges (for the alleged crimes in Florida) stated that he was not to have unsupervised contact with any minors under the age of 18.
