Duggar Family Targeted in Extortion Plot

An Iowa woman was arrested for trying to bribe TLC's parent company with photographs of a Duggar woman

The wholesome Duggar family from TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" was the target of an extortion plot involving what were described as compromising photos, according to documents filed in federal court.

Teresa Hunt, an Iowa woman was arrested last Wednesday and charged in U.S. District Court with one count of extortion for threatening to release photos that allegedly showed a Duggar family female with an older man, unless the company cancelled the show or paid her $10,000, Radar Online reported.

The FBI busted Hunt by having an agent pretend to be a Discovery Communications representative. On Jan. 20, Hunt allegedly told the undercover agent that she was offered $3,000 by media companies interested in the photos she had of Amy Duggar, a first cousin of the family. She e-mailed the photos to the agent along with her demands, and was later arrested.

Radar Online, one of the publications offered photos from Hunt, reported that the images were "merely harmless snaps rather than incriminating, damning photos." Radar apparently reviewed the photos but declined to purchase them.

Amy Dugger, the 25-year-old niece of patriarch Jim Bob Duggar, told Radar that the man in the photographs was a "longtime family friend" who is a "good Christian" and that their relationship was appropriate.

"Nineteen Kids and Counting" is a TLC reality show that follows a devout Christian couple, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, through life with their 19 children.

Selected Reading: Radar Online

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