The Duggar family was already dealing with Josh Duggar's arrest on a child porn charges when a second scandal emerged and raised similar concerns anout the family's views regarding children and child-rearing.

Earlier this week, we reported on rumors that Johannah Duggar had entered a courtship with a man named Carver.

No great surprise there, as Duggar women are taught from birth that procreation is their primary reason for being.

But the matter of the girl's age raised some serious concerns:

Johannah is just 15; Carver is 19.

They both have birthdays in October, which means that even if the alleged couple were to wait to get married until late 2021 or early 2022, Johannah would  only be 16, Carver 20.

For obvious reasons, rumors of a courtship between the Duggar daughter and the longtime family friend have not been well-received.

“She's a child. She should be going to school, not setting up a wedding registry," wrote one fan on Reddit,

“God. I hope not. I didn't realize how old he was. Dude is 19 turning 20 in October, she is 15 turning 16 in October," another added.

“I hope not though considering Michelle got married at 17 it wouldn't surprise me. Sadden but not surprise," a third chimed in.

Several photos of Carver at the Duggars' home in Tontitown, Arkansas began to circulate online.

Perhaps because of the Josh scandal, fans found the story all too easy to believe.

Now, Carver has responded to the reports of his romantic involvement with Johannah:

“We are great friends but no, we’re NOT courting or getting to know each other with intentions of marriage AT ALL.," the musician told UK tabloid The Sun this week

“Just friends with her and her family.”

Carver (we still don't know if that's his first or last name), said that he is “currently thinking about someone completely different,” whom he “appreciates.” 

While it's true that Carver has been photographed at the Duggars' house several times over the course of the past year, it looks as though he was just one of many visitors the family received during that time.

(Yes, they continued to entertain frequently during the pandemic year, and the pics show no masks in sight -- but that's a conversation for another time,)

Usually, the Duggars and their suitors remain silent on the subject of courtship rumors.

So the fact that Carver responded right away with an unqualified denial leads us to believe that he might actually be telling the truth.

These days, our faith in the Duggars is worn paper-thin, but since Carver is just an associate and not a family member, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

As for Johannah, we hope that she'll be allowed to continue being a child.

We would hope that no one will look at her and think about her marital prospects until she's at least 18, but since this is the Duggar family we're talking about, that's probably asking too much.

Any other family might consider changing their ways in the wake of something as serious and shocking as Josh's arrest.

But not the Duggars.

No, they will remain devoted to a system in which all forms of premarital physical contact are prohibited, and young people are married off and made to start families almost as soon as they're physically able to.

We wish all the luck in the world to Johannah and the children who remain under Jim Bob and Michelle's care.

They're certainly going to need it.