If you watched the Amazon Prime documentary Shiny Happy People you might have been struck by the story told by Bobye and Jim Holt, neighbors of the Duggar family, who were among the very first to learn of Josh’s sex crimes.
While still in his teens, Josh molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.
When he confessed his crime to the Holts, they encouraged Jim Bob to take his son to the police to confess his crimes.
He complied, but since Jim Bob Duggar is evil, he took Josh to a cop friend of his, who let the boy off with a stern lecture — and who was later imprisoned for child sex crimes of his own.
The rest of the story is well known, of course.
Having gotten away with his earliest crimes, Josh continued to offend, and he’s now serving 12 years in federal prison on child pornography charges.
Perhaps the Holts could have taken larger steps that Josh was brought to justice, but to their credit, they did more to intervene than just about any other adult in his life.
Which is why it’s so surprising that the Holts are now involved in a scandal of their own.
According to a new report from the Arkansas Times, Bobye requested an order of protection against Jim back in April.
The request was granted, and Bobye has been living separately from her husband ever since.
Details of the incident that led to the order are unclear, but it appears to have involved at least one of the Holt’s children.
“The Springdale Police Department acknowledged this week that it answered a call involving the Holt family on April 15 but declined to share information about it, saying the investigation remains active,” the Arkansas Times reports.
Gossip vlogger Katie Joy of the “Without a Crystal Ball” YouTube channel claims that Jim struck at least one of his daughters, prompting Bobye to take legal action for the protection of her children.
“During a trial for the orders, Bobye and the kids presented video and photographs of the abuse they experienced from Jim,” Joy wrote on Instagram.
“One of the daughters was allegedly hit so hard by Jim that he injured her neck and she’s [been] getting regular medical care, at least 4 of the kids are living separately from both parents and with a sibling.”
Needless to say, it’s a very concerning situation.
And it’s made all the more worrisome by the fact that divorce is strictly forbidden in the very insular fundamentalist community that the Duggars once belonged to.
The Holts are not members of the IBLP, but they are evangelical Christians, which means that Bobye might feel that she has no choice but to remain married to Jim.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.