"19 Kids and Counting" star Joseph Duggar and his wife Kendra Duggar are changing their pleas in their Arkansas child endangerment case.
The couple were set to make their first appearance in court Monday, Aug. 10, when they withdrew their not guilty pleas, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.
Both Joseph Duggar, 31, and Kendra Duggar, 28, were charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of false imprisonment in March and pleaded not guilty the following month. Now, they have submitted a plea by order, allowing them to avoid sentencing if they meet certain conditions laid out by the court.
Per the official order, the case will remain open while it is diverted for 12 months, during which the pair "must
not commit any new criminal offenses and must maintain good behavior," as well as pay a $1,850 fine each. If they complete the terms in the allotted period, the case will be dismissed.
Joseph Duggar faces separate child sex-abuse charges in Florida
Joseph Duggar was arrested March 18 for unrelated charges of lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor after he allegedly molested a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, in 2020, the Bay County Sheriff's Office previously announced.
One day later, the child endangerment charges were filed against both him and Kendra Duggar. A warrant was put out for her arrest on March 20 and she was taken into custody shortly after.
Joseph, the seventh-eldest of the 19 Duggar children who were featured on the TLC reality show, and Kendra Duggar have been married since 2017 and share four kids. After his arrest, Joseph Duggar was extradited to Florida for his separate case, for which he pleaded not guilty.
He was released on bail on the condition that he has no unsupervised contact with any minors, and a judge has rejected his efforts to see his kids unsupervised. While Kendra Duggar was initially blocked from contact with their children, the order was later lifted.
In the aftermath of the arrests, parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar addressed the allegations in a statement from their spokesperson to USA TODAY. "Jim Bob and Michelle are heartbroken over this entire situation."
"Right now, they are focused on loving their family and helping Kendra and her children during this difficult time. They are praying for the victim," the statement continued. "They ask for privacy and appreciate the kind words and prayers offered by so many."
The Duggar family rose to fame documenting their ultra-conservative Christian lifestyle in rural Arkansas on their hit TLC series, which ran for seven years until its cancelation in 2015 when news broke that the oldest sibling, Josh Duggar, had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter when he was a teen.
Josh Duggar was later convicted of downloading and possessing child pornography and is currently serving a more than 12-year prison sentence.
Contributing: Melina Khan, Anthony Robledo and Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joseph and Kendra Duggar withdraw not guilty pleas in Arkansas case
