Amy Duggar Responds: Inside '19 Kids And Counting' Extortion Scheme

Amy Duggar of 19 Kids And Counting issued a statement yesterday in response to the arrest of Teresa Hunt who was caught by the FBI trying to blackmail the reality TV star.

Hunt, an Iowa photographer, attempted to extort $10,000 from TLC, the network behind 19 Kids And Counting, and tried to force the network to cancel the show.

Teresa Hunt claimed to have scandalous photos of the rebellious Amy Duggar, the cousin of 19 Kids patriarch Jim Bob Duggar, that proved she was in a relationship with a much older man.

'His generosity has been exploited.'

Amy Duggar, 25, has vehemently denied Hunt's claims, slamming the would-be extortionist for her motives.

It's totally untrue, the aspiring musician said in a statement. James [the man in the photos] is a long time family friend who has always been supportive of my music career.

He's a good Christian, and it's upsetting that his genorsity has been exploited like this.

Pictures 'Merely Harmless Snaps'

That Teresa Hunt had obtained photos of Duggar and family friend James, and that she planned to use those photos to blackmail TLC, is undeniable.

But what was pictured in those incriminating photos, and what were Hunt's motives, besides cash, for the extortion plot?

Teresa Hunt contacted RadarOnline.com to try and sell the photographs before she moved against TLC, and editors there got a good look at the supposedly intimate situations between Amy Duggar and the 54-year-old James.

But according to Radar, those photos didn't prove much of anything. In fact, the site declined to purchase them after reviewing the set, and claims to have had no contact with Hunt since.

[The pictures] were merely harmless snaps rather than incriminating, damning photos, Radar Senior Reporter Alexis Tereszcuk wrote.

'... doing the nasty behind closed doors.'

Teresa Hunt's motives in this case, meanwhile, are murkier than simply trying to get some fast cash.

Rather than simply demand the $10,000 from Discovery Communications, TLC's parent company, Hunt also wrote that she would accept 19 Kids And Counting being canceled, as well.

When an undercover FBI agent posing as Discovery employee approached her about the photos, meanwhile, she sent back an email tirade against the conservative religious Duggar family, whom she condemned as hypocrites.

The [redacted] claim to be so Christian, so they keep popping out babies to keep their ratings up, Fox News quotes the FBI-sealed email as saying.

Meanwhile, [redacted] and [redacted] are doing the nasty behind closed doors.

As for the mysterious James, it appears that Teresa Hunt knew the 54-year-old musician personally.

He owes me money, she wrote in the email. Hunt added that she had no reason to hurt Amy Duggar except that she's on a reality show and pretends to be a right-wing Christian, and she's sleeping with a 54-year-old man.

19 Kids and Counting has been a hit show on TLC since 2008. It follows the extended family of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who have 19 children and a large extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews.