This is a disturbing story, made even worse by the fact that certain pertinent details simply are not included. In Touch Weekly says that 10 years ago, back in 2005, Jim-Bob Duggar turned in his son to the police after Jim-Bob caught his son Josh – who was then 17 years old – coming out of a “young girl’s bedroom.” An investigation was started, and the possible charges against Josh involved “sexual assault in the fourth degree.” We do not know the age of Josh’s alleged victim. We do not know what the sexual assault involved, and because the Duggar family views courtship, dating and sex in such a conservative, Puritanical way, the “sexual assault” could have been anything from a 17-year-old getting to second base with a 15-year-old, or it could have been something a great deal worse.
Josh Duggar of the TLC hit reality show 19 Kids and Counting was named in a police report as the “alleged offender” in an underage sexual abuse probe, In Touch magazine is reporting exclusively. The charge being pursued while Josh was a minor was sexual assault in the fourth degree. Multiple sources who have seen the police report and are familiar with the case told In Touch. According to the report, Josh was brought into the Arkansas State Police by his father, Jim Bob, who said he caught him leaving a young girl’s bedroom and “learned something inappropriate happened,” one source said.
A bizarre turn of events prevented police and prosecutors from finishing their investigation and possibly prosecuting. The state trooper who originally took the report about Josh shortly before 2005 never followed up. That state trooper was later convicted on child pornography charges and is serving a 56-year prison sentence.
When the state trooper ran into trouble, someone from the Arkansas State Police alerted the Child Abuse Hotline about the Duggar situation that had been sitting inactive. That’s when the Crimes Against Children Division and Springdale Police Department got involved. By then the three-year statute of limitations had passed and it would not have been possible to pursue prosecution of Josh if the allegations warranted, so the investigation was discontinued.
“A technicality prevented any further action,” a source familiar with the case told In Touch. “That’s been the biggest regret in all of this.” (The statute of limitations has since been lengthened.)
Sgt. Darrel Hignite — identified by multiple sources as the officer who led the investigation into the allegations about Josh — told In Touch: “I can’t comment or discuss [this case] because of the sensitive nature and because it involved a juvenile.”
Rumors about Josh have swirled for years but In Touch’s investigation has uncovered the secret he has been hiding. “I saw and read the report and it clearly stated that Jim Bob brought his son Josh into the Arkansas State Police and spoke to a state trooper about Josh’s involvement in alleged inappropriate touching with a minor,” one source told In Touch.
The first report was filed shortly before 2005. Josh and his wife, Anna, have three children and live in Washington, D.C., where he is a lobbyist for the Family Research Council.
In Arkansas, a minor is anyone under the age of 16. While it would have been creepy if Josh had been fooling around with a 15 year old, we don’t actually know if it was a consensual thing between teenagers (and Jim-Bob was just trying to “scare him straight”) or if Josh actually assaulted someone much younger than 16.
Oh, and of course Josh works for the Family Research Council. OF COURSE. His social media is full of anti-choice crap too.
Photos courtesy of Josh Duggar’s social media.
although I hate to say it, because a child is involved; but, this does not surprise me.
not one bit.
Yeah sadly not surprised either, this story has been doing the rounds of some gossip blogs since last year. It also had gossip about something that one of the camera crew saw this guy get up too that left them very skeeved out.
Zapp, what was the second part? That the camera crew allegedly saw?
AND, what’s even creepier —
if he was seen in a minor’s BR by his father, what are the chances it was at his OWN HOME?
Is it that likely that the father would see his son in a BR at an acquaintance’s home? Maybe, but most likely it’s his own home or a relative’s.
I mean, you can’t easily take your son, and the 18 other kids, with you to visit friends’ homes, nor do you have much time for it. Your life gets narrowed down by logistics.
I’m not so sure this isn’t just sensationalizing. Everything we know about the Duggars shows them to be rigid and puritanical. Jim-Bob turning in his son could reasonably be his reaction to Josh making out with a girl his own age (there is no indication of the person being younger than Josh. It says “young girl” but Josh was young too.). Hell, just the fact that he was alone in the room with a girl would be enough for Jim-Bob to overreact. And horror of horrors. what if Josh was with a boy? That would definitely make Jim-Bob find a reason to “scare his straight”. There are too many missing details to assume this was more than what it was. 4th degree sexual assault is pretty minor, something like a quick, inappropriate and unwanted grab.
Yeah, I tend to agree with you. By the headline, I was expecting more of a bombshell.
I still hate these people though.
Just not enough info and while I think it is good parenting to turn your kid in for criminal behavior, I think whatever this was is largely the Duggar parents fault as they deprive their children of any chances to explore their sexual desires/feelings in any normal way. They are not even allowed any privacy for personal pleasure. What can be expected?
I don’t know. I’m not a fan of the Duggars and admittedly never watch the show, but I’ll at least give the dad enough credit to understand the difference between a mere “sin,” which can be punished through their religious channels, and a crime, which needs to be referred to law enforcement. The other thing that doesn’t sit right with me is that everyone is assuming he was in a girlfriend’s room… but my first read is that the most likely “young girl’s” room the dad would have seen him exiting is one in his own house.
Much I as I despise the Duggars and what they stand for. I have to agree as well.
@Mixtape. Now there’s an angle I hadn’t thought of. But without more details, there’s absolutely no way to know.
No Lucinda I have to disagree…think about it. If it was something like that, Jim-Bob would just take him to extra church lessons to pray it away. For him to go to the police it was probably something much more disturbing I’d bet.
Any of these cults or closed off societies have RAMPANT child abuse. I’ve been learning more about Amish communities and the horrific physical and sexual abuse of children that easily goes on there. Predators/abusers love these closed off societies. It allows them to flourish, unnoticed in the dark so to speak.
This story was debunked years ago. Allegedly, Josh was the one who was abused by someone the Duggar family took in to try to help.
I’m not from the USA but could someone just tell who are these people?
You don’t want to know….we all wish we didn’t!
LetItB! i think we should consider ourselves lucky for not knowing who they are. I only know them from this blog and they look creepy.
They had (have?) a reality show about their hyper-Christian family. The parent couple has 19 children. I used to think they were harmless enough until I saw how oppressive their lifestyle is toward women, and what a bunch of assbags they turned out to be (unkind, judgmental, and ignorant), as the kids became adults and started exposing themselves on social media. They are best left in the collective unconscious.
to add, they actively campaign for anti-LGBT laws. and against anti-discrimination laws. and let’s not forget the cruelty to animals angle, either.
They are a family who gained famed after it became known that the mom had 14-something children and wanted more. Soon TLC gave them a show, their oldest children started getting married, they have given disturbing insensitive statements about social issues (abortion, Holocaust, ect) and think their religious justifies every thing they do. I don’t read much about them except on this site and when I used to check People Magazine, but that is pretty much the gist of it.
They are a Family Of Christian Bunny Rabbits, Human Incubators with no education and a God Given Sex drive
Ugh, gross gross gross. If it was Jim Bob or wtf his name is trying to “scare him straight” after a normal sexual experience, or a molestation, I have the creeps.
Isn’t this the same guy who posted on twitter he would rather vote for Obama than have dinner with a Catholic? What a shining example of Christian love and way to see God in everyone, man.
This doesn’t shock me. I’m sure that this family has so many secrets that it would make your head spin. Really gross. Maybe People magazine will stop saturating us with pregnancy milestones! It’s really ridiculous.
Interesting that his father turned him in.
I am all for God and even religion I believe in God wholeheartedly, but almost everything about the Duggars has always seemed very cult-ish to me and we all know how awful cults have been to minors. Disturbing story indeed.
Jim probably turned him he so he wouldn’t end up having sex, possibly with someone close to his age. The Duggers are that conservative. Probably why there were no real charges filed.
Whaaaaaattt???? That’s a headline I never thought I’d read. Sounds to me like Josh was having a normal teenager encounter. Gosh, maybe he even got to kiss her and touch her boobs, over her clothes! Seriously, if the girl was 16 and Josh was 17, and it was a tame and rather innocent encounter, then shame on Jim-Bob for making Josh feel like he had done something horribly wrong by reporting it to the police. If it was a genuine assault, ok then. But, seriously, it was probably his very first time alone with a girl who wasn’t his sister. I wonder if it was one of the Bates girls???
For all we know he was leaving the bedroom of a younger sister. It is all speculation…..
Oh yuck.
That was my first thought, too. Sister. What other young girl’s bedroom would Jim Bob likely be in a position to see his son leaving? What other young girl’s bedroom would the son likely have access to?
oh lord…and I mentioned below that his wife resembles a few of his sisters.
now I am COMPLETELY grossed out.
Oh god, I didn’t think of that! Could’ve been a sister for sure, but they do seem to take a lot of trips to meet up with other similar families and they always stay together, so maybe this was the case here…I really hope so.
The sisters have always slept in the same room. I doubt if he could find one alone.
This story has been around a long time. Some think it’s why they married him off at 20, to keep him out of trouble.
I can’t believe JimBoob would have turned him in.
@cubfan random question I’m not sure how to ask… Are you a “bargain hunter” by chance? 😉
oh wish you hadn’t said that..but it is a possibility.
Jim-bob may be an idiot but you have to remember…he lived in the outside world before joining this ‘religion’ as an adult. He knows what is illegal and what is not. The blurb said the only reason it was dropped was because of the statute of limitations…that is, an actual crime did occur.
OK, there is an update and I take back my comment. The Duggars have released a statement to People Magazine and Josh admits his molestation of five young girls twelve years ago. Apparently the police report suggests it was his sisters. All together now: YUCK!!! How invasive the molestation was is unclear but this is just gross. Josh has resigned from his puritanical job and I’m sure the Duggars may lose their show after this.
I remember a scene of the Duggars, where Jill hugged her boyfriend and everyone was shocked because it wasn’t a side hug! So, I just (want to) believe he did something harmless and his dad simply overreacted.
I think the police and prosecutors would know the difference between an overreaction and a crime.
That’s the rub though. For argument’s sake, assume the girl was 15 or 16, under the age of consent, but was an active participant in a make out session, it wouldn’t matter if the police felt it was just a father overreacting to a couple of teens making out because it is still, in fact, a crime, and they are obligated to treat it as such once it was reported.
A 15 year old kissing a 17 year old is not illegal…….
If the public persona this family presents is to be believed, Jim-Bob’s version of sexual assault truly could be kissing with your eyes closed. However, I do not believe the public persona this family presents, and they creep me out to an epic degree. I would be horrified, of course, but not surprised if this turned out to be something more serious. There are bound to be some pretty nasty skeletons in a closet that spends all day proclaiming how clean it is.
is that his wife in the bottom pic?…because she SERIOUSLY resembles a few of his sisters.
which is creepy enough on it’s own.
RIGHT!!!!!! I thought it was just my imagination!
Yes! It is super-creepy. Then again, these Quiverfull women all seem to resemble each other.
I don’t know if something really awful happened here, or Jim Bob the psycho saw two teenagers hold hands or hug and hauled his kid to the police in punishment.
I hope no one was truly assaulted, but with all the crazy rules and parents’ behavior, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some major issues there.
So what happened to the trooper, did he at least serve some significant time? And were charges filed in impeding an investigation or obstruction of justice?
This is more troublesome to me, since this person was in a position of authority.
Kiddo/Derp – the article says he’s serving a 56-year sentence 😛
Oh, derr dee derr, thanks. I missed it somehow and ACTUALLY READ it, which is very sad.
Reading comprehension does not = Kiddo, 2day
hah! Comprehending life does not = burnsie, ever
There is so much secrecy inside a cult. Who knows what really happened? It could be anything from an innocent, consensual kiss to a full blown assault. We will never know unless the girl tells her side of the story.
knew someone that grew up in their homeschooler cult , Bill Gothard cult & yes it’s a cult plain & simple. She got sent to “rahab” camp because she refused to attend church & seriously questioned where god can from before creation. She completely left when she was 18 but some of the stories she has told are unbelievable. Her family woke up & left shortly after her but no doubt, the Bob Gothard movement is a cult.
It does not surprise me. In fact I would be so happy if this family were exposed for what they truly are. Excuse me, and no offence to anyone, but going against the laws of nature (growing up, sexual development, intercourse) and denying our humanity is just the same as going against god.
wait i don’t understand. how did his father see his son coming out of a girl’s room? was he in the house of the girl? was the girl living with the duggars? i don’t know anything about the show, having never watched it. do they live on a compound with other families?
the whole thing reeks of gross and creepy.
I guess the implication is that the girl in question is one of Josh’s younger sisters.
Sibling molestation is higher in polygamist communities (ie Bountiful, British Columbia and Warren Jeffs’ FLDS strongholds in Utah) than amongst the general population. In those communities there is a disproportionate number of children to responsible adults, older children are charged with the care and feeding of younger siblings, and parents are overwhelmed and are physically or emotionally absent. Combined with a mindset that restricts teens from sexual experimentation and the situation is ripe for abuse by older siblings (and it’s not just exclusively males) of younger siblings.
I can see that the Quiverful community has some of these very same factors in play. Ergo, I’m not overly surprised by this revelation. I’m disgusted, to be sure. Just not surprised.
Exactly. Xavi hit the nail head on.
thanks for your response, that was really insightful. holy crap.
I watched the show once and he was so arrogant — he definitely fits the profile of a douchey bro who forces himself. Ugh… I can’t stand these people. Give me the Kardashians any day over them.
Well, I wish I was shocked but of course I’m not. I worked with kids for a long time and saw this and much worse all the time. However, I will say good for Jim Bob (side note I don’t like him) for taking his kid to the cops. Most people would much prefer to pretend it never happened.
For all the people saying that it may have been nothing, blown out of proportion by Jim-Bob — if that was true, the police wouldn’t have opened an investigation in the first place. Methinks the reason Jim-Bob went to the police was to try to take charge of a major scandal early on. He’s a creep and a cultist, but not a fool.
I agree. Jim-Bob may have strict opinions, but I’m sure he’s well aware that most laws are based on a more secular moral code — even in the Bible Belt. I don’t know about Arkansas, but most states have their laws written to protect teenagers of similar age from accusations based on consensual activity. Otherwise, 95% of ordinary high school couples would be at risk being hauled in for abuse by an irate parent.
Parental outrage for a consensual teenaged make-out session — sure. But I don’t think Jim-Bob would take this to the police, give his son a criminal history, and risk scandal just to scare him into purity. There is more to this story than a couple of necking teenagers.
I can’t stand the show, but I do think Jim-Bob is a loving parent. In the light of other information, I’m going to say he acted as loving parent to protect one child and see that another was held accountable.
Alas, I don’t think the Duggars church would look kindly on getting the victim therapy. Instead they’d just pray for guidance or healing.
I agree. JB is nuts about religion, but nowhere near the type to turn his kid into the POLICE for something innocent. He says all the time that he and Michelle were intimate (not sure how far) before marriage. I think he was doing the right thing and Josh did molest a younger sister. Granted he was a 17 year old, much different than a grown man but its still very wrong and gross. I don’t see how so many people are so convinced that it was innocent. If you watch the show, you know the Duggar kids have ZERO chances to go into a non-relatives bedroom EVER.
I hate these people, but could we have some actual established facts here? This could be anything from real sexual assault to bizarre parental freak-out over pedestrian teenage exploration.
Wow, I really wish we had the details here. The situation could be normal teenage stuff or pretty horrible. I actually don’t think Jim Bob would have gone to the police if he caught Josh kissing a girl his age though. Leads me to think the situation was more disturbing. But again, not enough info ultimately.
I wish we knew the age of the girl, this almost sounds like he was just being a normal teenager and fooling around and his dad flipped out and turned him in trying to teach him a lesson or something. This family is so weird about sex and touching of any kind that I can almost see this being nothing, but if she was younger than 15 there’s definitely a bigger issue.
I hate that I’m defending Josh but from the vague details it sounds like two horny teenagers got caught.
What was Jim-Bob doing outside a girl’s bedroom?
To be fair, “outside her bedroom” could cover any place with a view of the door. Nothing inherently sinister there.
Waiting for the day when Jim Bob is revealed to have a profile on Grindr.
I know! Right!
But I can be just as intrigued, if one of those girls escaped the house and wrote a tell all book. We all know that is coming. One day. One of those girls is going to get really p*ssed and tell all.
I’ve checked out Free Jinger over this because normally they have inside info. In this case, they support Josh 100% regardless that its CLEAR he did something. To people saying “Jim Bob is so scared of sex, he probably just caught Josh and a gf kissing after dark!” No… JB had political aspirations and the family is intent on keeping up their clean image. There is no way he took his son in the police for something unless it was bad, even if it was to teach him a lesson.
1) In order for this to be a slander issue, what is the motive of POLICE OFFICERS declining to comment “because the case involved a minor” THE CASE… there is clearly something going on, or the cop would say “there is no record of that, I have no clue what you are talking about, etc”
2) This is a reputation ruining rumor. If it was 100% false, ANYONE and EVERYONE would issue a statement saying just that.
3) I dont think Josh is a pedo, I think he was raised in a sexually repressed and sterile environment and at 17 decided to give in to some desire and touch one of his somewhat younger sisters. These things happen often in extremely large families where the parents cannot supervise all kids or refuse to have birds and bees talks with their kids.
Teens are SEXUAL PEOPLE and its new and overwhelming for them. They need a trusted adult to tell them its OK and normal. They need encouragement to explore their own bodies and acknowledgement that finding other teens/adults attractive is natural. They also need EXPOSURE to non-related peers so they can develop crushes to develop their sexuality. Josh had none of these and I think it really screwed him up.
The entire family is unusual.
Jim Bob is obviously keeping his connections in DC. I’d be interested to know his net worth.
Also, it appears Jill is much more favored than her sister Jessa. I wonder why?
Rumor has it that Jill was the hall monitor, and is Jim Bob’s favorite. Jessa was the rebel, similar to young Michelle, and is Michelle’s favorite. I don’t think Jill is favored over all. She’s the first girl to marry, and got the biggest house. Jessa got Josh’s old house, and it was completely redecorated with upraded appliances before they moved in. Every 22 year old marrying a 19 year old should be so lucky.
Michelle doesn’t care for Jessa , she just has the hots for Ben
A 15 yr old making out with a 17 yr old would be creepy???? Seriously???
I’m not on board with that sentiment either. A two year age difference is not creepy.
It would be HELLA creepy if it was his sister! Which is really implied in the blurb. What other bedroom would his Dad see him leaving?
Thank you for saying this! I have never seen the show so I am not involved.
First of all it would be coming out of a young girl’s bedroom in their own house. How else would he catch him? This family didn’t exactly go hang out in the community and have nonfamily hanging out at their home or their kids sleeping over at others’ houses. I feel it was some sort of relative sleeping over, like a cousin.
I said this up thread but they do take a lot of road trips to stay with other families who share their faith and breeding patterns, so it could’ve been at someone else’s house, who knows. I hate defending these as*holes but we don’t know the facts yet and I hope it turns out to be nothing.
Could be possible they were visiting relatives or friends? They travel a lot for their show, so possible it was when they were traveling or staying with another family. There are episodes where they visit other families in their circle. If they belong to the same cult, it would a huge no no. Just don’t want to even think it being one of the sisters….but its possible.
I don’t watch the show regularly, but years ago (probably when Josh was closer to 17 years old) I saw an episode where they visited friends (I think the Bates) & the friends had a bunch of kids too, with girls Josh’s age (or close to it). Also, all the sisters share a room, so it seems unlikely he was molesting one of his sisters.
I don’t know what to think about this, because while I think Jim Bob would freak out over a normal teenage make out situation, I also think he knows the difference in what is legally wrong & what he thinks is wrong morally. So maybe it was a younger teenage (15 is the youngest I can go without finding it creepy) & Jim Bob felt like the age difference might be a legal problem? I don’t know. This is weird. I feel like they’ll have to make a statement if they want people to stop jumping to conclusions.
could’ve been his cousin, Amy.
I hate to speculate, but it’s definitely better than one of his sisters. Amy is two years younger, so she would have been fifteen.
There were accusations years ago about Josh and a younger sister, I take this report as more of the old rumor that it occurred in their home among siblings.
I’m not a Duggar fan by any means – their whole way of life is absolutely crazy to me. But I really think that more information about the actual case would have to be known before you can call jump to a conclusion about Josh based on this story. When I was in high school, lots of seniors dated sophomores and *GASP* had sex even though it wasn’t legal. Most people never got caught so it didn’t matter, but I did have a good friend who knocked his girlfriend up at 18 (she was 16). Her parents immediately pressed charges against him for statutory rape and he was convicted with sexual assault of a minor in the 4th degree. He did 2 years in jail and had to register as a sex offender for 10 years after that. His name is off of the registry now, but I know his life when he was on it was really bad – being a sex offender means no unsupervised visitation with your kids, no going to school for pick up/drop off/lunch time, no going to the park on Saturday afternoon, etc. Every time he moved, he’d get hate mail and death threats – don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a sex offender anywhere near my kids, so I get it – but he wasn’t a creepy child predator. He had ZERO interest in having any sort of relationship with a minor, but people hear sex offender, don’t get all of the facts, and make all sorts of assumptions about who you are and what you did.
I’m not exactly sure what the laws are in Arkansas, but in Texas – 4th degree is basically the absolute lowest charge of sexual assault you can be charged with. It generally means you are very low risk to society and that the situation more than likely won’t be repeated, which is why they are the only level of sex offender that doesn’t register for life. Also, if the minor is under 15 here, it’s automatically considered a 2nd degree felony regardless of the situation. Again, I have no idea what the laws are there, but if they are similar to laws in Texas, then it’s more than likely a situation where he was having some sort of “inappropriate” sexual relationship with a girl who was slightly younger than him, and not some sort of Dateline-creepy sexual predator thing. Maybe I’m wrong – but honestly, if it was more serious than that, I would have thought they would have investigated him for something a lot higher than 4th degree sexual assault of a minor. Just because he’s a Duggar, and most people don’t like them and think their way of life is odd (myself included), doesn’t mean that he should be called a pedophile for having normal teenage boy hormones once.
That is a truly sad story. Scary too.
I believe the police report mention 2nd degree sexual assault. Many of the “incidents” were his own sisters (again in the reports) but their names have been blacked out. If you read the reports, then you will get that info even with the black outs.
This is sad, because it likely involved something minor between him and another girl around his age, which with normal teenagers would be expected, but is so out of character for this family. I hate that it’s being blown out of proportion. It’s troublesome to me that his own father would take it as far as police action, which leads me to believe that he was trying to scare him straight. I do believe over the years that the family has loosened up some with being exposed to the world, whereas they used to be so sheltered, so I would hope Jim Bob wouldn’t react the same today. It seems it would be an issue that would require counseling rather than punishment. I just feel bad for Josh’s wife Anna and his children because the media will eat them alive with this. They seem so sweet, and don’t deserve the negative attention.
I have never watched the show, but I commend the dad. Do you know how many people would have tried to sweep that or worse under the rug (especially when it’s interfamily)? Regardless of the situation, it cannot be easy for a parent to turn their child in to the police. I actually think that really speaks to the Dad’s character.
Actually according to some recent investigative reporting (see my link below) Jim Bob waited a year to report anything. There were multiple offenses.
You think this has anything to do with the sister that they refuse to marry off?
Yes, that was my first thought! Poor Jana is seemingly being punished for something. She’s the main caregiver and caters to her parents and sisters. She’s the Cinderella of the family. It’s also interesting that her twin John David is barely around anymore and opted to become a police officer. I saw the commercial for one of their episodes where Jim Bob went with him on a ride along and John looked very annoyed with Jim Bob. Oh, and John David isn’t married either.
Man! I really hope not. Jana’s life is sad enough.
If he’s in the DC area, this Duggar better watch his butt, they keep busting people around here for that sort of thing. They were reporting some sicko today who I think was a minor league baseball person/coach, who claimed to also have been sexually active with his own grandchildren.
This story was debunked years ago. That said, the real story is allegedly that Josh is the one who was abused, and the abuser was someone the Duggars took in to try to help.
Age of consent in Arkansas is 16, with a 3 year ago gap allowed, so the girl had to be 13 or less. If if were a consensual teen make-out session, police would not even have taken a report.
When you push weird puritanical views of sex onto your kids ( and you have 20 kids) it’s surely expected that many of them will develop unhealthy views towards it? Sex is a natural act for pleasure and procreation (in that order!) and attributing feelings of shame or guilt or badness to it is sure to lead to bad things down the track.
That being said, it would be pretty stupid for us to all react as though he an@lly raped a 9 year old when all he may have done is hold hands with someone who wasn’t his fiancee… this family has warped ideas on what constitutes normal behaviour
It was the sisters. Check out page 11 of the police report. The victims’ parents are named Michelle and Jim Bob. All of the assaults took place in the same town and zip code except for one.
http://m.imgur.com/a/zqPMi
Thank you for posting! This was not innocent, he repeatedly molested at least one of his sisters. Jim Bob and Michelle should be prosecuted along with their slimy son.
It happened several times, even nine months later. It sounds like he may have a real problem…
Well apparently, In Touch says that someone (an older woman in her sixties…Jim Bob’s Mom maybe?) emailed the Oprah show just before the Duggars were going to appear on it and told them about Josh and Oprah’s show contacted the police. Josh was 15 and it was 5 different girls and some were his sisters. At first Jim Bob just spoke to the elders in his “church” about what to do and then he and Michelle sent Josh to do phyiscal labour with a guy who was remodelling a house or something, not a real treatment centre. Apparently it was more than year after Josh confessed to Jim-Bob before he went to the police and it sounds like he only went because of the Oprah show triggering an investigation, not because he was determined to do the “right thing”. From In Touch – “What’s more, Jim Bob informed the elders of his church about Joshua’s actions and they waited three months before contacting authorities. The explosive new information is contained in a Springdale, Ark., police report obtained by In Touch magazine.
The report has been hidden since 2006 and was just obtained by the mag through a Freedom of information Act request. Jim Bob also refused to allow police to interview Josh when they opened a felony investigation in 2006. The Duggars star on TLC’s hit show 19 Kids and Counting.”
He just made a statement and resigned from the Family Research Council.
It wasn’t kissing. He was fondling breasts and hoo-ha’s while the girls were sleeping. One must assume these were girls staying in the Duggar home. So…sisters, cousins, or friends sleeping over.
Either way, it was more serious behavior than a couple of kids playing doctor, but the molestation took place like 11-12 years ago, the authorities were notified (albeit a year after it happened because the Duggar family tried to handle it internally), and I think it’s sad that what basically amounts to a lack of guidance and supervision is now very likely going to ruin this guy’s life.
If it was sisters, though…how normal/pathological is that? I dunno. I mean, I don’t want to demonize someone who messed up as a kid, but how do you get to your teens without understanding how wrong it is to sexually assault people–and especially members of your own family? It’s disturbing.
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but this sex abuse was ten years ago. What took so long for this story to reach media outlets?
And who leaked it?
It wasn’t just once ten years ago. It happened when he was 14 and he was caught and then he did it again and was caught at 17. Probably more times than they are willing to admit. They say they all got counseling. Well that isn’t what they said originally. Michelle said they sent him away to stay with a family friend who was remodelling a building and he did hard labour. This guy was not a counselor or psychologist. If they really went for counselling, I’d like to see a name of who the girls got to see. I doubt they got any counselling beyond Bill Gothard’s church elders (and Gothard himself has been accused by numerous women of sexual assault). Jim Bob took Josh to a friend of his who was a cop who “spoke sternly” to Josh about it. later that same cop was arrested and convicted of posessing child porn! Jim Bob refused to come in to police with Josh or let them question him and tried to hire a lawyer (2 turned him down). The girls themselves have admitted that JB and M were aware of the molestation and did nothing about it for a year! The police didn’t become involved in a real investigation until someone emailed the Oprah show about the allegations and her show alerted police. They were just lucky that the statute of limitations had run out.
This was not just a young teenage boy being curious. This was repeated behaviour on his younger sisters and another female minor and it wasn’t always when they were asleep. The Duggars said they made him apologise and the girls “forgave him”…well as a victim of childhood sexual abuse myself, it’s not always that simple. The damage is severe and long-lasting and comes out in many ways, especially as you age and have children of your own. Plus these girls were raised by parents who continually go on about how girls/women inspire lust in men and that it is there fault by how they dress/act. It’s unbelievable that they still continue to say this after knowing what happened with their own daughters and son. it’s basically like saying they brought it on themselves in some way! Getting closer to God and just praying isn’t going to heal the broken trust and lack of self-worth these girls are likely experiencing as a result of this. Not like they treat the girls as if they have much self worth anyways, but when you think about the spotlight they shine on purity and how it’s all about being pure…how can Jana and her sisters not feel like damaged goods? The way they handled this situation is sickening! I have a feeling a lot more is going to come out about this.
New reports say it was FIVE girls, four of whom were his sisters. This went on from 2002 until Jim-Bob was forced (not of his own good hearted nature) to talk to the police about it in 2005. I’d not be surprised if it went on even longer.
Somehow I don’t believe that’s something you can just pray away. Still, I’ll keep praying for those poor girls – and now for Josh’s, too. I’m glad this is coming out (and to think I was once a Duggar apologist, long, long ago), since it was increasingly looking like he was moving towards getting into politics. I hope CPS really starts looking into this family. Someone needs to save all those kids, and I don’t mean Jesus.
This whole thing is an outrage. Josh duggar was caught molesting one of his young sisters.. after a family outsider victim left a letter describing what he did in one of their church bibles the truth began to come out. It was after this letter was found that his dad caught him again in the act and took him to the police. Nothing was done about that because the reporting officer suprise suprise was in fact a pedophile as well. If the non family victim had not have made it known within the church would his father have taken him to the police… i think not. So now, after all their purity preaching he comes out and confesses… without detail of course. But being one of the chosen ones god forgives him.. no one forgives him or the parents who covered it up. What of the poor sisters. What of the other victims, which there will be.
what sickens me about this is their stance on homosexuality. They want them criminalised they want them punished.. where is their bible teachings now.. where is their forgivness? It only works for them? They are vile puratins who discriminate and teach hate against others. While they and their criminal behaviour is washed away by god. BULLSHIT! I am sure time will reveal more secrets and more victims. They are clever. Their confession and remorse online is a smokescreen for what is not yet out.
They brandish othets as criminals and evil where it is themselves that have a house where walls hide dark debauchery. I hope they lose everything for their vile hypocracy and cover up of their own criminal and morally bankrupt behaviour.