Why Is the Duggar Family Paying the Cops Investigating Them?

Even though the embattled Duggar family remains under investigation by police in their hometown of Tontitown, Ark., a report says the Duggars hired officers from that department to provide security for the family while off duty. Officers were paid $25 an hour to provide protection at two locations.

Following the revelations that former Family Research Council lobbyist Josh Duggar had sexually molested his sisters while a teenager, the fallout was swift and the family circled their wagons against an onslaught of unwelcome media interest. While Duggar admitted that the allegations were true, the statute of limitations had passed for any formal charges to be filed.

Duggar resigned his position with FRC and moved back home to Arkansas from Washington, D.C. TLC, the network that runs the Duggar's family-friendly hit reality show, 19 Kids and Counting, placed the popular show on hiatus and stopped airing even re-runs given the disturbing nature of the controversy.

In Touch magazine filed a Freedom of Information Act request and discovered emails between Steve Neild, a former bodyguard turned security firm executive, and Tontitown interim police chief Joey McCormick, who reportedly authorized the off-duty work. The Duggars have also reportedly purchased a decoy police car and parked it on their property.

The family is known to have close ties with the local police departments. Son John David Duggar, 25, is a volunteer with the Tontitown department.

The Duggars were first investigated by police in 2006 over the allegations that Josh Duggar had fondled his sleeping sisters in 2003. The family was said to be mostly uncooperative with the investigation. In 2007, they were also investigated by the Arkansas child protection agency, the Department of Human Services, after the Oprah Winfrey show passed along an anonymous tip that he had repeatedly abused several minors as a teenager.

In May 2015, DHS was refused entry to the family home while attempting to check on the welfare of a minor. The Tontitown police force currently has an open investigation into the family over that incident.

In Touch magazine, which broke the initial story, also reported the Duggars knew of their son's abuse for 16 months before reporting it to authorities. Josh has admitted that he "acted inexcusably."

In a statement released to People magazine in May, Josh Duggar said:

"Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends. I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling. I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life."

What he said about "counseling" is open to interpretation -- In Touch reports that it consisted of working in a family friend's home remodeling business.

Josh's parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and his siblings achieved fame as the subject of 19 Kids and Counting, showcasing the large family and its conservative Christian values. The family members are well-known for their antigay views, having, among other things, campaigned against an LGBT rights ordinance in Fayetteville, Ark., passed by the City Council but then repealed by voters. A robocall Michelle Duggar recorded for the campaign cast transgender people as child predators.

Last month, Fox's Megyn Kelly asked Michelle if she understands why many are upset with her 2014 robocall. Michelle deflected, saying, "I think protecting young girls and not allowing young men, and men in general, to go into a girl's locker room is just common sense."

Kelly pressed on, noting that many are offended since Michelle referred to transgender people as potential molesters, even though there has never been a single incident of a transgender person molesting someone in a bathroom.

That's when Jim Bob interjected, claiming that Michelle actually accused transgender people of potentially being pedophiles. The 19 Kids and Counting patriarch went on to explain that their son Josh is not a pedophile, since he was a teenager when he molested five young girls.