14 DAY TRIAL // The Duggars rose to fame thanks to their TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting, but a big chunk of their appeal is their lifestyle, which strikes a discordant note with anything you can see right now on TV or in the actual world around you.
They are deeply religious and live their life by a code that may strike one as antiquated, from their vow to marry virgins (they won’t even kiss or hold hands before marriage) to the fact that they don’t use birth control and aren’t addicted to modern gadgets like the rest of us. They’re also very involved in charity and share a deep connection with nature.
The bottom line is that the Duggars have an impeccable reputation, by far the most impeccable in showbiz. So imagine the shock when word got out that Josh Duggar, son of Michelle and Jim Bob, was the subject of a police investigation of child abuse.
Scandal breaks: Josh Duggar molested 5 underage girls
InTouch Weekly was the first to break the story, tracing down police records from 7 years ago, when the investigation with the Springdale, Ark. police department was opened. The incidents dated back to 2002 and the Duggars had full knowledge of them at the time the police got mixed in.
Several members of the church and even police officers also knew, but no one alerted the authorities. Instead, they rallied for Josh, offering him “support.” When the official investigation started, the victims (5 of them, including some of Josh’s sisters) said that they had forgiven him for what he’d done.
Josh too was a minor at the time of the incidents, which consisted of him fondling the girls both when they were awake and asleep. In 2006, his parents explained to the cops that they didn’t alert the authorities because, in 2003, they had sent him to a Christian program that “consisted of hard physical work and counseling,” and that he spent there several months.
Michelle later admitted to police that the “program” didn’t exist: they merely shipped Josh to a friend who was into construction work, and he stayed with him for a few months, helping out.
Sometime before the 2006 investigation, Jim Bob took his son to the police, but not to have him prosecuted for what he’d done: he turned to Arkansas State Trooper Jim Hutchens (now serving a 56-year sentence for child pornography) to scare him with a “stern talk.”
Had it been for the Duggars and everyone else with knowledge of the situation, this would have stopped here. However, a “friend” of the victims wrote a detailed account of all this in a letter that was placed in a book and forgotten. The book emerged later and whoever found the letter went to the police with the “proof.”
By that time, the Duggars had decided not to discuss with the police, and Josh refused to be interviewed. The statute of limitations had expired and the case went cold.
Josh Duggar comes clean, apologizes
In a statement to People magazine, Josh Duggar and his wife Anna acknowledge the report and confirm the story: as a teenager, Josh molested 5 underage girls, some of whom were his sisters.
Anna tells the media that Josh confessed to her what he’d done 2 years before they were married, and that she understood and forgave him because he’d shown her that he was a changed man and had learned from his mistakes.
You can read Josh’s statement below: he insists that he took all necessary steps to right the wrong he’d committed, and that his parents did good by the victims and the authorities.
His parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, have also released a joint statement, as also did Anna. They insist that Josh went through a very difficult phase and that he ended up hurting many people through his actions, but by the grace of God, he is now better.
In light of the details of the case made public, Josh Duggar has resigned from his position as Executive Director of the Family Research Council.