Kendra Duggar Does Not Have Her Children, Tells Husband Joseph Getting Them Back Is ‘Coming First’

Joseph and Kendra Duggar.Credit : Little Duggar Family/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW

Kendra Duggar acknowledged during multiple jail phone calls with her husband Joseph Duggar that she no longer has their four children
Kendra, 27, and Joseph, 31, were charged with endangering the welfare of a child and false imprisonment on March 20 in Arkansas
In one call, Kendra told Joseph that the children are her priority at this time

Kendra Duggar acknowledged that she no longer has her four children during multiple jail phone calls with her husband Joseph Duggar, according to audio obtained by PEOPLE.

“I think Friday has probably been my hardest day, but that’s crazy to say because Wednesday was crazy hard,” Kendra tells Joseph during a collect phone call from the Washington County Detention Facility on March 24.

Friday was the day of Kendra’s arrest and Wednesday was the day of her husband Joseph’s arrest.

She then adds: “But it’s just like, when you then take my babies from me, they were who I was just going to pour my life into.”

Joseph interjects that the children are Kendra’s “purpose right now.”

Kendra Duggar.Washington County Sheriff’s Department

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Kendra also mentioned not having them on a March 22 call when Joseph asked her how their children were doing amid their parents’ legal battles.

“From what I hear they are doing good,” Kendra tells him.

Kendra was with her children on March 20 after her release from jail and could be heard talking to them while on the phone with Joseph that evening.

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In another call, Kendra makes it clear to Joseph that her priority is their children.

“I’m fighting for the kids and they’re my number one priority right now,” Kendra tells Joseph.

He responds that he is “100% behind” his wife and says she “should be fighting for them the most.”

Kendra then tells Joseph: “I just want you to know, through all of this, whatever happens, that’s who’s coming first,” adding that “then we’ll just see where the rest of it leads us and try to put the pieces together.”

Before hanging up, she tells Joseph that his four children love him too.

A spokesperson for the Arkansas Dept. of Human Services declined to comment when asked about the status of the Duggars’ custody case.

Joseph and Kendra Duggar.Washington County Sheriff’s Office (2)

Kendra was booked into an Arkansas jail on March 20 after she and Joseph were charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree and four counts of false imprisonment in the second degree.

She was released on bail just 90 minutes after being booked into custody, and from there taken to an undisclosed location.

Kendra is staying at that private residence after her own home was searched by both the Tontitown Police Department and Arkansas Department of Human Services on March 19.

That search resulted in her being charged with four misdemeanor counts each of false imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.

She is set to appear in court on those charges April 29.

Joseph is currently out on $600,000 bond after making his first appearance in front of a Florida judge on Tuesday, March 31.

He was being held at the Bay County Jail after being charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office on March 18.

Those charges were filed after Joseph was accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl several times during a 2020 family vacation to Panama City Beach.

He has filed a written plea of not guilty to those charges.