Joseph Duggar, 31, and his wife Kendra, 27, have withdrawn their not guilty pleas to child endangerment and false imprisonment charges in Arkansas, avoiding a scheduled court appearance in the case.
The couple were set to appear in court in Arkansas before the last-minute change. They were charged in March following a search of their Tontitown home, which was carried out after Joseph was arrested in a separate case in Florida, where he faces a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12.
Officers who searched the couple's home found locks on the exteriors of the doors leading to the children's bedrooms. Joseph and Kendra were each charged with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
Kendra was arrested on March 20 and booked into the same jail where her husband, a former star of "19 Kids and Counting," was being held while awaiting extradition to Florida.
The couple avoided appearing in Arkansas court Monday by submitting a plea by order, which allows them to change their pleas to guilty or no contest. The judge presiding over the case is now expected to accept the filing and determine their sentence. If convicted on all eight counts, the Duggars face up to eight years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
Florida case proceeds separately
Joseph's separate Florida case is unaffected by the plea change and is expected to proceed as normal. He has pleaded not guilty to the Florida charges, waived his arraignment and demanded a jury trial.
The couple share four children: sons Garrett and Justus and daughters Addison and Brooklyn. Kendra was released on a $1,470 bond 90 minutes after her arrest. Joseph was released from the Florida jail he was extradited to after posting a $600,000 bond on April 1.
A judge initially barred Kendra from contact with her children, but the order was overturned after attorney Travis Story, who represents the Duggars in the Arkansas case, filed a motion. The Daily Mail has contacted Story for comment.
Details of the Florida allegations
Joseph's accuser in the Florida case, now 14, alleged she suffered "several incidents of sexual abuse" when she was nine years old during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, according to an affidavit obtained by the Daily Mail.
She made the claims in a forensic interview with a detective from the Tontitown Police Department, according to an affidavit written by Deputy Sheriff Darrell Norris of the Bay County Sheriff's Office in Lynn Haven, Florida. At the time of the vacation, the couple had two children and Kendra was pregnant with their third.
The accuser told the detective that during the vacation, she "would sit on the defendant's lap" and he would "cradle [her] with his arms," the affidavit states. As the holiday went on, Joseph's behavior is said to have changed: he allegedly asked her to "sit on the couch beside [him]" and then "covered the parties with a blanket," according to the affidavit.
The alleged victim accused Joseph of fondling and groping her under the blanket. She said he eventually "approached the victim and apologized for his actions," after which "the incidents stopped occurring," the affidavit claims.
After the girl's forensic interview, Norris asked the detective and the victim's father to call Joseph to try to obtain a confession. During that call, the affidavit claims, Joseph "admitted his actions, stating he touched the victim over her clothing" and "admitted his intentions were not pure."
