Duggars Are Wrong ... Molestation Case was NOT Sealed

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are full of it when they say the Springdale, Arkansas Police Chief had an agenda in releasing the "sealed" molestation case ... so says the city's top prosecutor.

Springdale City Attorney Ernest Cate tells TMZ, the case file was never sealed. The reason -- the police report wasn't filed until 2006, 4 years after the molestations began. When the police report was filed, Josh Duggar was 18 ... an adult suspect, and therefore there was no basis for sealing the case.

Cate says he got a Freedom of Information request from a media outlet, and since it was a non-sealed case he was required to release it under the Freedom of Information Act. The names of the minor victims in the police report narrative were redacted.

This is interesting ... in the narrative, Josh's name was redacted because he was only 14 when the molestations first occurred. Cate says when it comes to sealing a case the relevant time is when the police report is filed, so they were dealing with an adult suspect.

Jim Bob and Michelle claimed on Fox News Channel they were the real victims, because the Police Chief somehow had an agenda to get them. But Cate says it's just not true ... the city followed the law in releasing the file.