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Like many of her relatives, Amy Duggar King has been deeply affected by Joseph Duggar’s criminal cases.
During a recent interview, she shared that she has actually spoken to Joseph’s alleged victim.
Amy says that she offered encouragement and praise to the girl, who was only 9 for the series of 2020 incidents.
She also expressed dismay that Joseph could confess but then take it back and force this girl to endure his trial.
‘You are such a strong person’
During her recent interview on The Sarah Fraser Show, Amy revealed that she has spoken with the girl at the center of Joseph’s criminal case in Florida.
In 2020, Joseph went on a family vacation. Traveling between states to vacation during the first month of a deadly pandemic is, sadly, the least horrific detail of this story.
The unnamed accuser, who is now in her early teens, was only 9 years old when she says that Joseph repeatedly molested her during the trip.
It was only earlier this year, it seems, when she told her family. Her father called Joseph, who reportedly confessed twice to the despicable crime — though he has since pleaded not guilty in court.
“I just gave her hope. I said, ‘This doesn’t have to destroy you. It really truly doesn’t,’” Amy reported of having spoken with the girl. “I told her that if she ever just needed a safe place to talk, that I’m here.”
According to Amy, she also praised the girl’s strength for coming forward.
“You speaking out and you being so honest and vulnerable,” she correctly assessed.
Amy added that “knowing the backlash and knowing the people that would turn their backs on you and not believe you, you are such a strong person.”
Admittedly, we’re unclear on why Amy and the girl spoke. It seems unlikely that any courtroom wants to hear about a relative of the defendant speaking to the victim ahead of trial.
However, she’s right when she says that coming forward takes tremendous courage. Particularly if, as many suspect, the girl is from a similarly insular, fundamentalist social circle where girls are second-class at best, and where consent is not really taught or understood.
‘I don’t understand …’
Like many, Amy expressed dismay at how Joseph reportedly confessed more than once to the crimes but then entered a plea of not guilty when it came to his arraignment.
“I don’t understand how you can admit to it and say you did it, and then backtrack and change it,” she expressed.
Amy continued: “And be like, ‘Well, I might have said that, but I didn’t mean that.’”
Obviously, many confessions are coerced out of people, some of whom may lack legal representation and may have been subjected to sleep deprivation.
Joseph reportedly first confessed to the child’s father and then, over the phone, to police. That’s not quite the same scenario as someone kept up all night and then at risk of losing their job if they show up late to work the next day, believing that they can leave an interrogation room if they just sign a false confession.
Some on social media have speculated that perhaps the child and her family are known to the broader Duggar family, and not only to Joseph.
If so, that might explain why Amy was allowed to speak with her. Were the Duggars unknown to the family except for Joseph, that could still happen, but would seem less likely.
As for the “not guilty” plea … one can only assume that either the reality of losing everything set in, or Joseph simply spoke with an attorney who (in all fairness, doing their job) told him the realities of prison.
Without knowing more, it’s hard to say whether his previous confessions can be effectively used against Joseph in court.
It seems likely that any defense attorney would move to preclude the prosecution from even mentioning them, let alone entering any recordings into evidence, playing them for the jury, or bringing testimony about the confessions from those who heard them.
It is just a shame that this girl will likely have to testify and even face cross-examination in court.
Amy Duggar: I Talked to Joseph’s Victim! She’s Really Brave! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
The nameplate on Mustang Holding LLC’s downtown Anchorage office is seen on July 16, 2026. The company is the leaseholder and operator of the Southern Miluveach Unit, which has gone through ownership changes and financial troubles. Mustang Holding flared natural gas for five months without authorization to do so, state regulators say. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska regulators on Wednesday assessed a $741,520 civil penalty against the operator of a small and trouble-plagued North Slope oil field for five months of unauthorized flaring of natural gas.
In Alaska, underground oil and gas fields are owned collectively by state residents. Wasting oil and gas without paying the state for it is equivalent to theft. Flaring — burning unused gas — is allowed for safety reasons and for early development of an oil or gas well, but only with state permission.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission took the enforcement action against Mustang Holding LLC., the leaseholder at the Southern Miluveach Unit.
The unit, which holds a field and related infrastructure commonly called Mustang, lies on the western North Slope, just west of the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River Unit.
During initial production startup last year, Mustang Holding had permission to flare gas temporarily for well testing, but the company continued the practice after that permission expired, the AOGCC said in its order. It flared gas without authorization continuously from Nov. 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, resulting in the burning of 112.3 million cubic feet of natural gas, the AOGCC said in its order.
As required by state law, the commission assessed a penalty equivalent to twice the market value of the burned-off natural gas, which is considered a wasted state resource, the order said.
The commission initially proposed the penalty on April 28. Mustang Holding objected, and an informal review was held in June, the order said. After that, the commission upheld its $741,520 penalty.
Mustang Holding admitted to flaring beyond the permitted period, which expired on Oct. 31. However, it argued that flaring beyond that date should not be penalized, according to the AOGCC order, which summarized the company’s defenses.
Mustang Holding argued that the flaring occurred before the site’s gas processing infrastructure was in operation “and therefore should not be treated the same as unauthorized flaring after the commencement of regular production,” the AOGCC order said. Mustang Holding also argued that the flaring “was neither willful nor commercially motivated,” the AOGCC order said.
An email to Mustang Holding’s representative was not returned, and he was not available by telephone.
The Southern Miluveach Unit, initially formed in 2011, has had a rocky history, with numerous changes in ownership and failures to meet financial obligations to the state.
A previous developer, Brooks Range Petroleum Co., defaulted on a loan provided by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. That prompted the state development agency to foreclose on the property in 2021.
Support from AIDEA included financing an access road to the property. In all, AIDEA had provided $72 million for the development, and the state provided another $22.5 million loan through the Department of Revenue.
In October 2023, an independent company called Finnex LLC acquired Mustang Holding, allowing AIDEA to divest itself of the project. Finnex is owned by another company, Houston-based Thyssen Petroleum USA.
Production at the Southern Miluveach Unit started at about the beginning of 2025, according to the most recent plan of development reviewed by the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas. Average daily oil production from January to October 2025 was about 500 barrels, according to the plan of development.
Mustang Holding has now installed facilities intended to enable it to handle daily production of 5,000 barrels, according to the plan of development.
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We have tragic news to report from the world of movies today:
Brenda Fricker — the Oscar-winning Irish actress best known to American audiences for her role in Home Alone 2 — has passed away.
She was 81 years old.
News of Fricker’s death comes courtesy of a statement from her agent, Phil Belfield.
“We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her,” Belfield told The Sun, adding:
“I was honoured to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over.”
Fricker’s acting career began back in 1964, with a small role in Of Human Bondage, the film adapted from W. Somerset Maugham’s classic novel of the same name.
She continued to work steadily in the decades that followed, and in 1989, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work as Daniel Day-Lewis’ mother in My Left Foot.
Fricker would achieve a new level of fame three years later with her unforgettable role in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.
As the so-called “Pigeon Lady,” Fricker brought warmth and unexpected emotional complexity to one of the biggest holiday blockbusters of all time.
While she’s certainly starred in more highly acclaimed films, Fricker’s work in Home Alone 2 lives on for the millions who still revisit the movie annually.
Several more high-profile Hollywood profiles would follow, including roles as Mike Meyer’s mother in So I Married an Axe Murderer and Matthew McConaughey’s assistant in A Time to Kill.
A lifelong Dublin resident, Fricker continued to take on film work until 2024.
Our condolences go out to her loved ones during this difficult time.
Brenda Fricker Cause of Death: Home Alone 2 ‘Pigeon Lady’ Passes Away at 81 was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip