Jim Bob Duggar Family Friend Jim & Bobye Lose Custody Of Kids

Counting On alums Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar have been friends with many families from their church over the years. Some of them even had their own TV show, such as the Bates family. Jim and Bobye Holt are also long-time pals of the Duggars. However, they recently got into trouble with the law, resulting in them losing custody of their children. Keep reading to see what happened.

Counting On: Who Are Jim Bob Duggar’s Family Friend Jim & Bobye Holt?

Jim and Bobye spoke about their relationship with the Duggar family in the documentary, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. According to the married couple, they were once good friends with Jim Bob and Michelle. Jim and Jim Bob’s relationship goes way back to middle school. But Jim and Bobye revealed that they began to distance themselves from the Duggars since Josh’s CSAM arrest. Additionally, at the time they learned about the scandal, Josh was allegedly dating their oldest daughter. “March 30, 2003, when we found out, I went out to the field and just bawled,” Jim added.

Jim & Bobye Holt Lose Custody Of Kids

According to reports, Jim and Bobye Holt have lost custody of some of their two minor children after an Arkansas judge deemed the parents “unfit.” In April 2023, Boybe filed an order of protection against her husband to protect her 11 children. But she eventually dismissed the petition in December 2023.

Jim and Bobye’s son, Spencer, then filed for emergency guardianship for three of his siblings in January 2024, citing abuse. According to reports, Jim has engaged in severe physical and mental abuse of the minor children, and Spencer and his older siblings were witnesses and have also experienced the same thing when they were younger. The court believed that Bobye enabled Jim’s abusive behavior towards their children by dismissing her petition last year. As a result, both parents lost custody of their two younger minors. Reports also state that Spencer and Kristian have taken actions to alienate their siblings from their parents. On September 26th, the court granted the petition for Kristian to be the guardian of the two children.

Counting On: Jim & Bobye Holt’s Defense

Despite the claims, Jim and Bobye continue to defend themselves. They said that some rules were broken throughout their trials. One of them was how the two orders of protection were consented to without an evidentiary hearing being held. However, it seems the two can’t do anything about the court’s decision. They were also asked to continue child support for the minor children.