If you didn’t know it before, you know it now: You can’t trust the Duggars.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar finally spoke publicly about their son Josh’s molestation of four of their daughters when he was a teenager in an interview with Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly.
However, the heads of the 19 Kids and Counting family weren’t exactly candid in the interview, which was more like a PR exercise in damage control.
The couple tried to imply that Josh’s actions were the result of “bad choices” and youthful curiosity, and that his sisters were not at all damaged by them because they didn’t understand what he was doing. They said, that it was not a big deal, because they girls were asleep most of the time when it happened (and it mostly happened in their beds, except when it happened on the couch). Ye gads…
InTouch Weekly, which broke the story of Josh’s repeated molestation of five young girls when he was aged 14, has found that many of the couple’s statements were misleading – or flat-out lies.
Here are four of the untruths told by the Duggars, as documented by InTouch.
1. They cooperated fully with the police investigation.
They didn’t.
The couple said they “trusted” the Springdale police department, but the police report reveals that Jim Bob Duggar refused to produce his son to be interviewed.
“Det. Hignite received a voice mail from Mr. Duggar stating that [redacted, Josh] had hired an attorney and will not be coming in for interview,” InTouch reports the file reads.
See the interview below…
2. They had no legal obligation to report their son’s sexual abuse of their daughters.
Actually, they WERE obliged to tell the police that their son had abused their daughters.
Jim Bob Duggar told Megyn Kelly that as Josh’s parents, they were “not mandatory reporters, the law allows parents to do what they think is best for their child.”
The Duggar family album… Post continues after gallery.
But according to legal experts InTouch consulted, the couple could have faced felony charges for child endangerment and a six-year prison term for not reporting the abuse (for the disturbing crime of ‘Permitting Abuse of Minor’) after learning about it and “recklessly allowing it to continue.”
The only reason the couple avoided this punishment is that the statute of limitations on the crime has run out.
3. Police files documenting the case were illegally obtained and published by InTouch.
They weren’t.
The records were obtained and published subject to Arkansas Freedom of Information laws.
4. State Trooper Jim Hutchens (now serving a 56-year prison sentence on child porn charges) was randomly assigned to interview Josh Duggar.
He wasn’t. He was Jim Bob’s mate.
InTouch interviewed Hutchens from his prison cell, and he said he and Jim Bob Duggar knew each other well and that Duggar had sought him out specifically to talk to Josh, rather than an unknown state trooper in 2006. Hutchens did not take the case any further and the Duggars embarked on their reality show career shortly after.
Hutchens has said that Jim Bob only told him about ONE incident and made it sound innocuous, which is why Hutchens said he didn’t pursue the case.
Want to know more about the Duggar controversy?
Today’s Michelle Duggar interview was an insult to every survivor of child abuse.
The Duggars are coming clean about their dirty laundry. On TV, of course.
That time Josh Duggar made an awkward joke about incest on TV.
Top Comments
The issue I had with the interview was that they seemed to imply that for the youngest of his victims she wouldn't remember it and they downplayed the potential trauma of the event. This is wrong. This exact thing happened to me when I was 5 and it has seriously affected my life. I developed long-term OCD, anxiety and depression and having a healthy sex life with my husband has been difficult. I've since had two children and I suffered tremendously before knowing their gender (both boys) for fear that if they were a girl I would be unable to prevent what happened to me happening to them.
While I honestly believe they did what they thought was best for their children I don't like the implication that sexual abuse committed against a 5 year old would be forgotten. If only.
I'm so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing your story.
I agree with you. When traumatic things happen to kids, I have heard people say "thank goodness they won't remember this", but they do! Even if it's not an immediate memory, the trauma is embedded in them. I was one of those kids. I was raped at the age of 3. Didn't remember any of it til I was in my 20s, when I was sexually harassed in my job, I started experiencing 'body memories' and then finally I had the memories of that day when I was 3 come back, as well as surrounding days. It explains a lot about why I'm so fearful, why I have trust issues and why the idea of intimacy scares the hell out of me. No matter what trauma a child suffers (car accident, sexual abuse etc) they need to deal with it before it becomes an issue in their adult life! Mental health is just as (if not even more) important than physical health. You may not notice the bumps, bruises and scars, but they are there - and ignoring them doesn't make them go away!