Amy Duggar King said her cousin Josh Duggar, who is serving prison time on charges related to child sex abuse images, deserves his fate.
“I hope every day there is absolute torture for him,” King told People. “I really hope that, because what he watched and what he was viewing for his own fulfillment is those kids experiencing torture.”
King added: “He deserves every second in there, and I hope he gets a longer term. I hope he messes up again.”
In May 2022, Josh, one of the stars of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on federal charges of downloading and possessing child sex abuse images, to which he had pleaded not guilty.
Josh is the eldest child of religious couple Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar of Arkansas, who, with their family, starred in the long-time reality show.
In 2015, Josh was accused of sexually abusing five girls who were underage, as TODAY.com previously reported, prompting the cancelation of “19 Kids and Counting.”
“Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends,” Josh said in a statement in May of 2015.
Josh also admitted to cheating on his wife Anna through a “secret addiction” to pornography. Josh and Anna have seven children together.
King told People that she has no contact with Josh or Anna.
“I have not spoken to him, and I will not. I will not,” King told the outlet. “When you just cross those evil lines like that, there is no coming back. I just think there’s no coming back.”
King told People that she had offered her home to Anna and her children, before crossing paths with her at a 2023 funeral.
“I wanted to say a whole lot. I wanted to say tons of things, but in that moment it wasn’t obviously the right location,” King said. “It was a ceremony, a viewing actually, at a funeral, and yeah. It wasn’t the right timing and I didn’t want to make a scene ... But if you ask me, I think she is mad. I do. I think she’s just really, really mad.”
King, a mother of one, told TODAY.com in a 2021 interview that she feared for his children.
“Who wouldn’t worry about that? My heart goes out to all those innocent, sweet victims... It breaks my heart,” King said. “I really hope justice is served.”
“I will just say that whatever you do in the darkness comes out in the light. If you’re going to look at such disgusting and sickening images, justice has to be served.”