19 Kids and Counting's Duggar Family Target of Alleged Extortion Plot Over "Intimate" Photos

Iowa woman arrested after allegedly demanding show's cancellation or $10,000 after threatening to release compromising photos of a family member

By Natalie Finn Feb 06, 2012 10:29 PMTags
19 Kids and Counting, The Duggar FamilyScott Enlow/TLC

If any family seemed the least likely to be part of a sordid scheme, it would be the Duggars of Tontitown, Ark.

But the 19 Kids and Counting family ended up the target of an alleged extortion plot, according to federal court documents, and an Iowa woman has been arrested on suspicion of hatching the scam.

So, what sort of dirt did she claim to have on the seemingly squeaky-clean clan?

Teresa Hunt has been charged in U.S. District Court with one count of extortion for allegedly demanding either the cancellation of the show or $10,000 from TLC parent Discovery Communications in exchange for not releasing photos of a member of the Duggar family in "apparently intimate situations" to the media.

Hunt was arrested last Wednesday in a sting operation in which a federal agent posing as a rep from Discovery contacted her.

Sources tell E! News that the photos were said to be of 25-year-old Amy Duggar, the daughter of Jim Bob Duggar's older sister (so, not one of the 19), in a compromising situation with an older man.

Amy has denied having an inappropriate relationship with the man, whom she called a "longtime family friend."