EXCLUSIVE: Kendra Duggar Hiring Her Own Attorney Indicates Her 'Interests' May Be 'at Odds' With Husband Joseph Amid Child Endangerment Case, Legal Expert Claims

Kendra and Joseph Duggar's separate interests could be "at odds" as they face child endangerment and false imprisonment charges, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.

According to Jamie E. Wright, L.A.-based lawyer and founder of Wright Law Firm, while it's common for "both parties" to hire separate attorneys when charges are filed against spouses, the mom-of-four choosing to only secure legal counsel for herself while Joseph was in jail signals a key shift in her mindset.

"This action does indicate that she perceives her own interests as being at odds with her husband," Wright explained.

While this doesn't mean that she is necessarily "intending to remove herself emotionally" from the disgraced former reality star, it does imply "she has changed her method of making decisions from a 'we' to a 'me' mentality in order to protect herself in a high-stress and high-risk legal situation."

As Radar previously reported, Joseph, 31, and Kendra, 27, were each charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of false imprisonment after authorities allegedly found locks on the outside of two of the bedroom doors in their Arkansas home.

While Joseph was already sitting in jail in Washington County over molestation allegations, Kendra was arrested on March 20 in connection with the child endangerment charges.

Now that the 27-year-old has a lawyer, it will be their job to make "clear distinctions between Kendra's case and any other part of the storyline created by Joseph's charges," Wright exclusively shared last month.

"One case could result in a much greater penalty than the other case, or one could enter into a plea agreement while the other contests the charges," she added.

It's also been revealed that the child molestation allegations against Joseph could potentially put other members of the Duggar family under the microscope – particularly considering that Joseph's older brother Josh, 38, was accused of molesting several of his sisters as a teenager and is currently behind bars on a child pornography charge.

Wright explained that when "numerous allegations of sexual misconduct" involving minors occur in a single family, investigators may "expand the investigative scope."

"Generally speaking, CPS and law enforcement will examine who knew what, when did they know it, and did the adult(s) take any action to protect the child?" she continued. "Additionally, CPS will investigate if there are additional victims or witnesses that have not yet made themselves known."

Joseph was arrested on March 18 after being accused of sexually touching a 9-year-old girl during a 2020 vacation to Florida.

A report from the Tontitown police revealed that the victim – who is now 14 years old – claimed he'd pushed her to "sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket," before he allegedly touched her inappropriately.

During a phone call with the victim's father, police alleged that Joseph admitted his intentions were not "pure."

After Joseph was taken into custody in Arkansas and was awaiting extradition to Florida, his father, Jim Bob, sent a firmly-worded email to his son, warning him that he had a "long road ahead" of him for the alleged "terrible decisions" he'd made.

"You are just going to have to accept the situation at this point," the email read. "It’s also fine to pray that God would have mercy on you, but you’re probably gonna face major consequences for several years to come."