They came forward on their own, says report

Jun 11, 2015 07:00 GMT  ·  By
Jill and Jessa Duggar came out to defend Josh, their molester, because they wanted to set the record straight, not because they were pressured into it
   Jill and Jessa Duggar came out to defend Josh, their molester, because they wanted to set the record straight, not because they were pressured into it

This week’s issue of People Magazine is dedicated to the Duggar molestation scandal, but unlike the glossies going after the family for covering up Josh’s misdeeds of 12 years ago, it offers an explanation for why Jill and Jessa came forward to defend him in a Fox News Duggar special.

The sisters have identified themselves as 2 of the 5 victims of Josh, saying he touched them inappropriately when they were 10 and 12, respectively. However, they wanted to go on the record saying that Josh was not a child molester, or a pedophile or a rapist, he was just a curious teen who got himself into trouble.

Jill wanted to speak out

As for those saying that it was parents Jim Bob and Michelle pushing Jill and Jessa to go on TV to defend their brother for the sake of their career in reality television (the Duggars are TLC’s biggest brand right now, thanks to the reality show 19 Kids and Counting), that’s a lie.

A source close to the family tells the publication that the interview was initially focused on Jim Bob and Michelle, but Jill came up with the idea of making an appearance as well.

“Her parents were concerned because they felt she had been through enough, but she was clear - she never wanted this information public. [She] wanted to speak out because so many stories were full of false and sensationalized information,” the spy explains. “She wanted to tell the true story of what had happened to her, how she watched with admiration her parents' thorough response, and how wrong it was for the records to be released to the public.”

When Jessa found out about the plan, she decided that she would do the interview as well because she didn’t like the idea of Jill going through this alone.

And speaking of going through this ordeal, the family friend stresses that, indeed, Jill and Jessa feel as if they’ve been victimized more by the fact that this story went public and is now playing out in the media than they ever were by Josh’s inappropriate touching.

This is also something that they made very clear in their Fox News interview, as the video below can confirm.

The Josh Duggar molestation scandal

The molestation incidents occurred between 2002 and 2003, when Josh, the Duggar’s eldest son, was 14 and 15. According to his parents, the victims were 5 underage girls, 4 of whom were his sisters. Josh would touch them over and under their clothes, when they were asleep first and then, later on, even when they were awake.

The parents knew what was happening from the first incident, because Josh came to them crying because he was sorry. They let the situation continue for over a year, setting only “safeguards” around the house, but they eventually had Josh sent away from home when he confessed to touching a 5-year-old sister.

A police investigation was launched in 2006 but dead-ended soon because the statute of limitations had expired and because the Duggars were uncooperative. Josh was never charged for what he did, with his parents insisting that they had no responsibility to hand him over to the authorities, either then or later, because this was an “in-house” situation they handled the best way they saw fit.

The story broke just recently after one of the major US glossies obtained the police records on the 2006 investigation under the Freedom of Information Act. The Duggars have been saying that the records were obtained and published illegally and that they have a mind to sue the police department and the magazine that broke the story.

This is what Jill and Jessa mean when they say they have been more “violated” by the media this year than they were by their brother 12 years ago.