… while doing their best to make sure that other families can’t live their lives the way THEY see it should be led. Disgusting, loathesome hypocrites.
If they hadn’t sold their goods to TLC, none of this would be coming out in front of cameras, and those daughters wouldn’t be getting victimized again.
This.
@lookingforward I just read that FOX is replaying at midnight EST - so in a few minutes. Saw that on Twitter, can’t confirm it’s true.
Churchmusicmom,
I was molested by a family member at a young age. I am so offended by your assertion that the victims in this case are “more victimized by the press…” that I can barely type this reply with my shaking hands. You have literally no idea how much pressure is brought to bear on girls who are abused by a family member to remain silent, to dismiss, lie or even defend their abuser, and how damaging it can be to hear the hair splitting excuses that are offered to trivialize the most profound violation of innocence and trust (“inappropriate release of juvenile records”. Are you serious?). If, as you assert, we have no way of knowing what really happened, please at least have the grace not to rush to defend an admitted serial predator because, after all, he was only a teenager when it started.
Bless you, @3Trees. Thank you for speaking.
@3Trees - I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m guessing having this story in the news so much is very difficult for you.
Thx. Got it (Fox Business News.) Now.
“Is it not possible that Josh learned from his mistakes and has moved on?”
Yes, but that’s a) unknown at this point and, unfortunately, there is no test but the test of time. Who gets to declare someone “cured?” And,
b) it doesn’t change what DID happen. To “erase” what did, you have to, well, ignore what did. And that takes us back to the parents. Apologies, but what the parents did, no matter how well intentioned or how they may be “earnestly living their lives” per their principles, left the girls in the lurch. As someone said, this wasn’t one time. It happened again…and then again.
c) the parents then actively campaigned against others, posing them as abusers.
"Nothing every happened like that again…in the girls’ bedrooms." But it did happen elsewhere.
They do have a PR guy, same one who works/worked for, you guessed it, Huck. So anything they said tonight had scripting support. Spin support. I fail to see the modesty and humility here (the very principles they claim.)
Was anybody else stunned when Jim Bob claimed to have spoken with many friends whose families had experienced far more serious incidents involving incest/improper touching/child molestation? I guess he’s not a “mandatory reporter” but he’s comfortable keeping those secrets for others?
And, sorry, but I suspect Ms. Kelly would have been far more pressing in her questioning if the Duggars weren’t a “good Christian family.”
Am I the only person in the world who has never heard of these people?
I thought previous reports said 4 of the 5 victims were family members (guessing sisters) and one was a babysittter (who “didnt know”?) Probably the other sisters are still minors so we wont be hearing from them. One was 5 at the time, so is probably still underage.
The Duggar girls run in strings, with 4 older ones, then the one who was 5 at the time (born in the middle of a string of boys), then the 4-5 youngest who are all girls. The little girls were not born at the time this happened, so only the one who was 5, who is now 15, is still a minor.
And of course that’s a lie anyway. The girls came to their parents to complain. That’s in the police report. To suggest it came to light because Joshie felt compelled to confess is a load of horse manure, as was most of the interview.
If the youngest was 5 in 2002-3, wouldn’t she be around 17 now?
or maybe 18?
Well, I watched the interview, and here’s some of what I don’t get:
They allege that Josh came to them three times to “share his heart.” In the interview, they say that’s how they learned what he had done. (Yes, I know that in the police report, it’s because the daughters complained to Mom and Dad. Whatever.)
- How do they know Josh didn't do more than what he owned up to?
- If Josh hadn't come to them, they would not have known about the incidents.
- How do they know their other sons aren't doing similar things?
I also am confused about “two incidents over clothes,” and then later “incidents under clothes.”
I also am confused about this: If Josh and the sisters received professional counseling, why didn’t the counselors report this? Aren’t professionals (by which I assume that means licensed in some way) mandatory reporters?
Jim Bob said that they walked into the local police station and spoke with whoever was on duty. Doesn’t the police report say they contacted that one guy? Which is correct?
This is really the sort of situation where, if you’re anti-Duggar, you can find lots of holes in their story, and if you’re pro-Duggar, you can find lots of ways they did the right thing.
Fascinating.
The 5-year-old who was molested is Joy-Anna, who is now 17. She would also be the daughter who requested the reports be destroyed - she is the only one who was abused by Josh who is still a minor.
The 3 older girls who were abused are Jill, Jessa and Jinger.
No info on the family friend/babysitter who was also a victim.
I also read one story, which I cannot locate right now, that claimed that one of Josh’s younger brothers learned of the abuse and told the parents.
They have to say he “shared his heart” because the girls were completely asleep so it didn’t impact them, remember? sarcasm font
@rockvillemom, not doubting you, but where is it legit noted that Joy-Anna was one of the abused (and requested that reports be destroyed). And Jinger. I guess it was new information to me that indeed Jill/Jessa were victims which was revealed last night, but I haven’t seen confirmed info on the other two girls.
And if one was a babysitter, how old was she? And how did that get scooted under the rug if she was someone old enough to babysit???
And something else I’m confused about:
Megyn Kelly asked M & JB why the policeman they told – the one who is in jail on child pornography charges – recently told the media that JB had only told him of one incident and that’s why he didn’t report it. In response, JB said during the interview, “I don’t know why he said that. Maybe he was hoping for a faster parole or something.” But the reality is that the policeman is something like 69 years old and his sentence is something like 56 years. Even if he gets “faster parole,” that means that instead of getting out of jail when he’s 125, he might get out of jail when he’s only 115 or even 105. Well, BFD.
Also, since the policeman’s sentence had nothing to do with the Duggar case, anything he says about it will have nothing to do with a reduction in his sentence.
JB’s logic for why the policeman said what he said makes no sense, and that makes me suspicious of lots else that JB said.
I don’t know if I’ll watch Friday. Maybe. I have to say, I was very curious to see JB and Michelle “defend” their story - and, was interested because they are who I have the biggest problem with because of all they did/didn’t do AFTER the incidents. (of course Josh has responsibilities too).
But to see Jill and Jessa? Are they there by choice? Were they encouraged to do this by their parents? Their PR person? Their pocketbook? I just have more of a problem with them sitting in their chairs and spending time in front of a camera.
I appreciate forgiveness, but under the circumstances, for me, this is not just about “forgiving” Josh - something that they may be personally be able to do - it is much more the family’s lifestyle, choices, values, male/female roles, etc.
For those of you who don’t know, these two girls scheduled to appear - Jill and Jessa both married on the show this year (and both now starting their families) - the first girls to marry from the family - and both who had courtships pretty much hand picked and “nurtured” (ugh, that sounds so not right for this situation - bad choice of word??) by JB.