And as he prepares for trial, Joseph is demanding the right to speak to investigators whose information led to his arrest.
Joseph Duggar has been arrested for the alleged molestation of a 9-year-old girl. (Washington County Sheriff’s Office)
According to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, Joe’s legal team has filed court documents requesting that the judge allow them to question individuals from the Department of Children and Families, Child Protection Team, and any other law enforcement agency involved in the investigation.
Joe reportedly filed a “Motion to Compel” on May 1, which asks the court to compel disclosure of information obtained in the investigation up to this point.
As we previously reported, Joe was arrested after his accuser told her parents about what had happened.
Police then conducted a “forensic interview” with the alleged victim, who is now 14.
Joseph Duggar has been extradited to Florida, where he’ll be arraigned on child molestation charges. (Bay County Sheriff’s Department)
Joseph’s legal team now wants to interview anyone who works for DCF, law enforcement, or any of the government agencies connected to Joe’s case.
In his latest filing, Joseph alleges that these witnesses “conducted an investigation of the child who is the alleged victim in this case.”
He now believes he is “entitled” to receive their testimonies, as well as “records and evidence in the possession of the witnesses for a fair determination of [Joe’s] guilt or innocence at trial.”
The accuser’s identity has not been made public, but Us Weekly reports that she has ties to the family of Joseph’s wife, Kendra Caldwell.
“[Kendra’s parents] Christina and Paul Caldwell are not hiding the fact that Joseph’s victim is [close to the Caldwell family],” a source tells the outlet.
“Christina has told other members of their church, but she is not sure she wants to talk about it so publicly. That is what she’s struggling with, but she is not hiding it.”
The insider added that the alleged molestation took place while Joseph was on vacation with his in-laws in Panama City Beach.
“When [the alleged sexual assault] happened, Joseph was on vacation with Kendra and her family,” they stated.
“No other Duggar [family members] were there … As years passed, [the alleged victim] understood more and got the courage to tell her family. Just like the police report says, when she told her family, they acted on it.”
The Caldwells have issued a statement supporting the accuser. Insiders say they are no longer on speaking terms with Joseph and Kendra.
Joseph has yet to speak publicly on the charges against him.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
Jessie Reyez has confirmed that her fourth studio album, A LITTLE VENGEANCE, will be released on June 12 via FMLY/Island Records.
The news continues a new era for Reyez, who has been consistently releasing music in 2026. Last week, she recruited Muni Long for “AIN’T U TIRED?” Earlier in April, she dropped “N.Y.F.F.,” alongside the surprise $TILL PAID EP.
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On “AIN’T U TIRED?,” both Reyez and Long take aim at partners who took advantage of them. The former employs a half-rapped, half-sung flow as she takes a former flame to task: “Upper echelon, I’m the one in charge/ Hair and money long, you do what you want/ Wanna sleep, wanna sleep, wanna sleep on me, I dare you,” Reyez sings.
A LITTLE VENGEANCE and the $TILL PAID EP follow the Canadian songwriter’s 2025 LP, PAID IN MEMORIES. That album featured cover art that displayed a questionnaire Reyez answered as an eighth grader. In a section titled favorite hobbies, she wrote: “Rapping/singing/dancing.” This passion still informs her artistry. She discussed this drive in a 2025 interview with Clash, reflecting on how her music mirrors the world she wants to live in.
She said, “So ultimately I just want to live a good life. I want to continue to do that and when times come in life where heavier s**t goes left, I just want to be able to have more elasticity to be able to come back with equanimity and not be in the low for too long. To make the world a better place is the nice little pageant queen answer, but I believe it [laughs]. I abide by it and I think it’s a beautiful thing that I want to make sure I do. Like when I die, I want to make sure I’m leaving the world in a better place than when I found it. I want to help the people I can, love the same people I love wholeheartedly, and just be.”
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Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer people killed. Robberies dropped 23%. Gun assaults declined 22%. Carjackings plummeted 43%.
As a scholar focused on how policy decisions and structural conditions shape crime in marginalized communities, I see a pattern forming that could put these historic gains at serious risk.
The cuts stretched across the public safety landscape: community violence intervention, victim services, law enforcement training, juvenile justice, offender reentry and criminal justice research.
Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi described the cancellations as eliminating “wasteful grants.” The White House argued that the grant programs had been “funding DEI and cultural Marxism” rather than helping to keep Americans safe.
In rural Oregon, a DOJ grant had allowed the Union County district attorney to hire an investigator who, after a few years of probing a 43-year-old cold case involving the killing of a 21-year-old woman, finally developed some leads. When the money was cut, the investigation stopped.
Funding cliffs
The funding cuts couldn’t have come at a worse time. States and local jurisdictions were already facing looming cuts, as billions of dollars provided by President Joe Biden’s COVID recovery plan run out on Dec. 31, 2026.
Many local governments had used that money to build violence prevention programs from the ground up: employing community-based mediators, launching youth employment initiatives and expanding behavioral health teams.
And now? A double funding cliff with the sudden cancellation of DOJ grants, paired with the expiration of COVID recovery money.
In Chicago, this cliff has already forced a 43% cut to the city’s domestic violence prevention budget for 2026 – even as its share of domestic-related homicides rose 13% over the previous year.
Larger and more targeted
Criminology research helps explain the particular risks of abrupt disinvestment. Emory sociology professor Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory identifies a direct relationship between increased strain – economic pressure, blocked opportunities, the withdrawal of institutional support – and higher risks of criminal behavior.
Researchers warn that cuts to violence prevention programs are likely to lead to increases in gun crime. Jeremy Hogan/Getty Images
Historical precedent reinforces the concern. In 2013, federal across-the-board spending cuts eliminated services for more than 955,000 crime victims in a single year. The capacity of the FBI and related agencies was slashed by the equivalent of more than 1,000 agents.
Between 2014 and 2016, the violent crime rate climbed 7%.
The 2025 cuts are substantially larger and more targeted, and have devastated some groups.
Equal Justice USA, a national organization working to end the death penalty and reduce violence through community-based interventions, shut down in August 2025 after losing more than $3 million in DOJ grants.
“What shocked me the most … was what feels like the utter cruelty of it,” said Adam Rosenberg, who runs the center, referring to the cancellation of the funds.
As of April 2026, the DOJ has not paid out $200 million in approved grants to assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.
This comes after the department last year allowed more than 100 grants for human trafficking survivors to expire, affecting more than 5,000 victims, despite Congress allocating $88 million for these services.
Community members trained in conflict mediation help extinguish tensions before they turn lethal. Youth programs provide alternatives to street economies. Forensic labs process the evidence that solves cases. Reentry programs keep people from cycling back through the system. With each serving a distinct function, together they form the infrastructure of public safety.
As funding for crime prevention from two main sources runs out, whether progress continues depends on what happens next.
Andrea Hagan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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