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We watched the entire interview and were stunned with some of the facts that were mentioned and some of the things Jim Bob and Michelle had to say. We report:
According to Jim Bob and Michelle, it was Josh who came to them and told them that he had committed the unspeakable acts of touching two of his sisters 12 years ago. They stated that Josh announced to them that he had entered their rooms and touched their breasts over their clothing while they were asleep. Jim Bob stated:
"The girls didn't even know it happened because they were asleep"
On two separate occasions Josh touched them in their bedroom while they were asleep; Jim Bob and Michelle spoke to their son and explained to him (14 at the time) that his actions were wrong and that he should never do it again. According to the pair, they took measures to safeguard their daughters from ever being abused again, however, Jim Bob revealed that afterwards, on at least two other occasions, Josh engaged in these actions again; this time touching them while they were asleep on the couch.
Michelle Duggar stated that some of her safeguarding attempts included:
- No male babysitters
- The girls were instructed not to sit on anyone's lap unless they were daddy
- The children were not allowed to play "hide and go seek" alone or hide and secluded areas
- The girls were instructed never to be alone in the same room with a boy with the doors closed, this was referring to both family members and non-family members.
During the interview, Jim Bob Duggar reiterated about five times that "None of the girls knew it happened.", as if to convince himself that somehow that made the situation better, lessened the consequences their son should face, or lessened the hurt the victims should experience. He further stated that the girls only found out about what had happened to them after they had personally set them aside and told them about the situation.
After the fifth account of molestation, it became apparent that Josh could no longer live in the home with the rest of the family out of fear that he would engage in these acts again. Jim Bob and Michelle sent Josh to Little Rock, Arkansas to work with an acquaintance who had offered to counsel him. According to the family, each of the girls also received counseling from licensed and accredited therapist.
Upon his return, they reached out to local authorities for help.
The Duggars have received much backlash for what the public believes was their deliberate attempt to hide the events that had occurred and keep their son from receiving justice. However, during the interview they clearly stated that after Josh had confessed to them what he had done, they took him to the headquarters for police in Arkansas and sat down with an officer; they had Josh tell his story in its entirety.
They claim that for months they waited in fear, thinking that someone would knock on their door with a warrant to arrest Josh, but after the years had gone by, nothing had ever come of the confession. It is here that we'd like to note that the officer who took Josh's confession is currently in prison for 56 years after being convicted of child pornography.
Josh's actions never received any sort of legal justice, in fact the situation was never widely known to authorities until the family was sent to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show years ago. An anonymous letter was sent to Harpo Studios stating that "They are not who they say they are.", In reference to the molestation accusations, which were also highlighted in the letter.
Immediately, the letter was sent to authorities by Harpo Studios, afterwards, and investigation was opened; but by then the statute of limitation had been reached, and there was nothing further that could be done. The public has stated that the Duggar's deliberate wait in addressing the situation with authorities was intentional, hoping to drag out the situation until the statute of limitations had been reached.
It wasn't until recently that the actual report of what had occurred was leaked to the public.
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"We are victims they can't do this to us."Jessica was quoted as saying:
"The system that's in place to protect young kids, both of those who make bad mistakes and those affected by them, has greatly failed."They spoke in reference to a leaked police report that named them and three other girls as victims of Josh Duggar. During the interview the Duggars stated that the police chief, Kathy O'Kelley, seemed to have an agenda or ulterior motive for releasing the document, claiming that at an event were Josh Dugar was present, when he came forth to speak to the police chief, she coldly turned her face and walked away from him. This was of course, before the document had been released.
The Duggars claimed that the police chief was heard saying:
"There's a few things I want to do before I retire."They believed that they were on that bucket list of revenge or unfinished business.
The report in question was a sealed juvenile record, which should not have been accessible to the public as it named minors as victims. However, the report was leaked to the tabloids and many are calling for the resignation or firing of the police chief involved in the situation. Much scrutiny is present regarding the handling of these records rather than the actions the records portray. According to the public, this was a deliberate violation of the law and an ethical breach to put victims such a position.
Towards the end of the interview, Jim Bob stated:
"If god can forgive Josh can forgive other people in similar situations."Michelle Duggar was asked about her public speech where she stated that transgender individuals should not be allowed to use bathrooms of the opposite physical sex, fearing that they could engage in child molestation. She was asked how she could unfairly judged transgender populations and automatically assumed that transgender individuals are child molesters, given the fact that her own son is one.
To this, Jim Bob fired back stating that Michelle had initially stated the term "pedophile" not "child molesters"; he continued by saying that the two situations were completely different, because in the sense of transgenders, we were talking about adults, in the case of Josh, "He was a child preying on another child"; therefore, he cannot be considered "a pedophile". Whether or not Jim Bob meant for this to be an explanation of the "lesser evil" we don't know. But the question was valid, and his answer was less than satisfactory.
They ended the interview with stating,
"Why aren't the tabloids going after the system for releasing these files?" and "Hopefully justice will be served."Tell us your thoughts, you can connect with us on Twitter and Facebook using #MDDuggars.
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