Jim Bob Duggar’s Sister Calls for Duggar Family Investigation After Josh and Joseph Scandals

Jim Bob Duggar‘s sister, Deanna Duggar, is calling for an investigation into the Duggars amid a handful of public family scandals.

Deanna, 64, appeared on The Sarah Fraser Show podcast, where she pointed to her brother, Jim Bob, 60, and his wife, Michelle Duggar, in particular.

“In my opinion, I do believe that [Jim Bob and his wife Michelle] should be investigated just because of everything that has happened,” Deanna claimed during the July 15 episode. “Everybody should be checked out in that family.”

She did make an exception, however, for Jill Duggar, noting that the Counting On alum, 35, has previously spoken out about distancing herself from her extended family.

“I know Jill has done the work and the therapy,” she continued, “but I think a lot of them should be.”

Deanna’s comments follow more than a decade of controversy for the Duggar family, starting with Josh Duggar, 38, who was accused of sexual molestation back in 2015, after an In Touch report exposed a 2006 police report which detailed allegations that he had molested five underage girls — four of whom were his sisters, Jim Bob and Michelle later revealed — between 2002 and 2003.

The 19 Kids and Counting star was never charged in relation to the crimes, but it did lead to the cancellation of the hit TLC series. He was, however, put behind bars in 2021 after federal authorities discovered that he downloaded hundreds of illicit files onto a work computer at his car dealership in Arkansas. He was convicted of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material and sentenced to 151 months, or 12 years and seven months, in federal prison.

Some family members returned to reality TV for the spinoff Counting On, which ran until 2020, and though both the family and the show had amassed a major following, TLC ultimately cut ties with the Duggars a year later amid Josh’s arrest.

Josh isn’t the only member of the Duggar family who has faced legal trouble. His younger brother, Joseph Duggar, is currently facing child molestation charges. Joseph, 31, was arrested in March 2026 on charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

Investigators in Bay County, Florida, allege that in 2020, during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, he repeatedly touched and molested a nine-year-old girl. The victim’s father confronted Duggar in 2026, at which point Duggar allegedly admitted to the actions in a recorded call and to police, according to a statement posted on the Bay County Sheriff’s Facebook page. He was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12. He has pleaded not guilty.

Just last week, according to The U.S. Sun, four more witnesses have spoken out in Joseph’s child molestation case. He has denied all the charges.

Joseph’s wife, Kendra Duggar, is also in hot water, with the couple facing child endangerment charges in a separate case in Arkansas. Joseph and Kendra, 27, were arrested on misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree false imprisonment in March, with a People report indicating that the charges stemmed from authorities discovering locks on the exterior of doors in their home.

Both have entered written pleas of not guilty, and their four children were removed from their custody following their respective arrests. As In Touch reported, Kendra was later released on bond, however, and has since been reunited with the kids.

Elsewhere during the podcast, Deanna’s daughter, Amy Duggar King, who also spoke with Sarah Fraser, said that though the arrests came as a shock to reality TV fans, she wasn’t all too surprised given the Duggar family’s hard-rooted faith in the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) — an ultra-conservative, non-denominational Christian organization founded in 1961 by Bill Gothard, who faced severe accusations regarding sexual abuse, harassment, and systemic cover-ups while leading the church, People has reported. Gothard has denied any wrongdoing.

Backing up her mom’s calls, Amy, 39, told the podcast host, 44, “It stems from somewhere.”

“I just think that maybe they have suppressed a whole lot and they have not come to terms with the things that maybe have gone on and really how it messed with their heads with all the different IBLP principles and all the things,” she added.

Amy went on to claim, “You have to remember that they were in these, like, big large groups of people that thought the same way, right? The men were the leaders, and they could do whatever they wanted, and no one could stand up or talk back to the men. … Everyone should have therapy. I do think an investigation going deeper might be good.”

The Duggars’ connection with IBLP was the subject of a 2023 Amazon Prime docuseries, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. At the time of its release, Jim Bob and Michelle, 59, released a statement on their website, slamming the docuseries as “sad” because it “paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”

While Amy said she holds no ill will towards TLC for giving the Duggar family a platform, she did credit the show for exposing their alleged misdeeds, adding, “I’m glad that they exposed it. I really [am], because that’s how healing begins, is by exposing and getting help for the victims.”

If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673, text HOPE to 64673 or go to rainn.org.