The Duggars Respond to Reports That Josh Duggar Was Accused of Child Molestation

[SuperLuigi]

He should not have been allowed to live with his victims. He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near them.

That’s not anyone’s choice but the family’s and law enforcements.

What if I said I don’t want my kids to be anywhere near homosexuals or adulterers?

 

[KendraDZ1902]

Well, if you’re the parent, some of the responsibility may fall on you. So IMO, it’s more complicated than that.

What that my child, who is old enough to babysit, is a monster? Yeah, I would feel guilt for the rest of my life, but he won’t be in the house with them. He will be gone.

 

[SWolf]

Was that supposed to be funny?

It’s amazing how nonchalant some people are about ostracizing their own children.

 

[Loly_Maria]

You didn’t really answer my question.

Also, given he seems to be an upstanding adult now, and his sisters forgave him, I’m thinking the outcome here is much better than “throw him in jail”, “throw him in foster care” and “throw him in a farm somewhere”.

Look at the abuse rates sometime for prisons and foster care and tell me that would be a better outcome.

Ok then, to answer your question, he should have gone to jail.

It doesn’t matter if he is apparently an ‘upstanding adult’ now, he still did something horrible which will affect his victims for the rest of their lives.

What if I said I don’t want my kids to be anywhere near homosexuals or adulterers?

That would be reasonable if the homosexuals or adulterers had harmed your children.

 

[masondoggy]

So they should have kicked their 14 year old son out, or sent him to foster care?

If that’s what had to be done to protect my daughters, you bet I would.

The victim’s needs are the priority. And no victim of sexual assault can even begin to heal when she is faced with her attacker every day in her own home. Even if he never touches her again, the anxiety and trauma that she experiences every time she sees him will seriously interfere with her recovery.

 

[SuperLuigi]

They are also much more likely to be biased. We need people on both sides.

I agree. There needs to be objectivity even in very emotional situations.

 

[KendraDZ1902]

It’s amazing how nonchalant some people are about ostracizing their own children.

So you don’t protect the children who were abused? I would rather send the abuser off and keep my babies, who have been abused, at home.
But hey, not everyone thinks like that.

 

[TMC]

So they should have kicked their 14 year old son out, or sent him to foster care?

They should at least have gotten him professional counseling and taken steps to protect their own daughters. They did nothing for a year. The reason they finally did something is because he was continuing to molest his sisters. So they let their girls live with someone they knew was molesting them FOR A YEAR. And let’s not pretend that sending him to live with someone from church for a couple months is any kind of real counseling.

To find out your son is molesting his sisters and others is a tough situation. I don’t know what I would do. But I know I would not let him keep doing it for a year, and I know I would get him some professional help.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Ok then, to answer your question, he should have gone to jail.

It doesn’t matter if he is apparently an ‘upstanding adult’ now, he still did something horrible which will affect his victims for the rest of their lives.

A 14 yo kid in jail.

 

[Darryl_Revok]

Look at the abuse rates sometime for prisons and foster care and tell me that would be a better outcome.

Look at the recidivism rate for sex offenders. That this situation turned out ideally should not be used as proof of the family’s supposed good intentions and good judgement. In 99 times out of a hundred, calling a family friend to fix the problem, lawyering up and praying the problem away does not lead to such a lovely ending.

Of course, the Duggars exist in a bubble where they’ve been allowed to craft their own little reality, away from the demands of common propriety, common sense, and the mainstream legal system.

 

[TMC]

Sorry, but is there anything other than a spate of incidents that happened when he was a child (more than a decade ago, and for which his is obviously repentant) that give you reason to believe that he isn’t virtuous? That is quite an accusation to make. To the contrary, everything I’ve seen indicates that he is indeed a wonderful husband, father, and a fine human being.

So you know him well, do you? He was not a child. He began molesting when he was 14 and continued for at least a year. He has never received any professional counseling or been in any kind of formal monitoring program. Those facts alone are enough that his word that he is virtuous is insufficient.

 

[SuperLuigi]

I think people need to be careful about their views on what “real” counseling really is. Some of these “professional” counselors being referred to on here are the same people who might say it’s okay for your kid to experiment with homosexual behavior, premaritial sex, contraception and/or have an abortion behind your back.

 

[Colorad007]

Look at the recidivism rate for sex offenders. That this situation turned out ideally should not be used as proof of the family’s supposed good intentions and good judgement. In 99 times out of a hundred, calling a family friend to fix the problem, lawyering up and praying the problem away does not lead to such a lovely ending.

Of course, the Duggars exist in a bubble where they’ve been allowed to craft their own little reality, away from the demands of common propriety, common sense, and the mainstream legal system.

Actually, the recidivism rate for juvenile offenders is extremely low. What isn’t low, sadly, is the amount of hysteria surrounding them.

 

[KendraDZ1902]

I think people need to be careful about their views on what “real” counseling really is. Some of these “professional” counselors being referred to on here are the same people who might say it’s okay for your kid to experiment with homosexual behavior, premaritial sex, contraception and/or have an abortion behind your back.

At least they don’t promote or sweep sex abuse under the rug. Abortion is the only thing on your list that doesn’t give one of the people consent.

Gays consent, people having sex outside of marriage consent, people consent to contraception. You don’t consent to being sexually abused by your teenage brother.

 

[Walking_Home]

SWolf:

So they should have kicked their 14 year old son out, or sent him to foster care?

If that’s what had to be done to protect my daughters, you bet I would.

The victim’s needs are the priority. And no victim of sexual assault can even begin to heal when she is faced with her attacker every day in her own home. Even if he never touches her again, the anxiety and trauma that she experiences every time she sees him will seriously interfere with her recovery.

---

Agree.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

You didn’t really answer my question.

Also, given he seems to be an upstanding adult now, and his sisters forgave him, I’m thinking the outcome here is much better than “throw him in jail”, “throw him in foster care” and “throw him in a farm somewhere”.

Look at the abuse rates sometime for prisons and foster care and tell me that would be a better outcome.

The operative word here is SEEMS. Until yesterday, it SEEMED Josh Duggar was a virtuous gentleman would have never dreamed of touching ANY woman sexually who was not his wife, much less subjected his own sisters to such behavior. Now we know differently.

So, who’s to say we won’t find out more troubling information in the future? Often, additional victims of abuse come forward when they find out they aren’t alone.

If people want to give him the benefit of the doubt and call that being charitable, that is one thing. But I think we need to guard against jumping to conclusions to either absolve Josh or condemn him.

 

[QuestLove]

I think people need to be careful about their views on what “real” counseling really is. Some of these “professional” counselors being referred to on here are the same people who might say it’s okay for your kid to experiment with homosexual behavior, premaritial sex, contraception and/or have an abortion behind your back.

Couldn’t they have sent to a christian counselor, one of which they approve?

 

[SuperLuigi]

So you know him will, do you? He was not a child. He began molesting when he was 14 and continued for at least a year. He has never received any professional counseling or been in any kind of formal monitoring program. Those facts alone are enough that his word that he is virtuous is insufficient.

Well, perhaps that is just too bad then because we live in a country where someone is innocent until proven guilty.

Being 14 means being a child.

Or by that logic should we abolish all of the statutory rape laws?

That means if a 14 year old girl wants sex with a guy who is 30, it’s legal and acceptable, because hey, she’s not a kid and can make her own choices.

That’s the other thing—if the genders were reversed in all of this, would we REALLY be having this conversation?

 

[Havard]

Couldn’t they have sent to a christian counselor, one of which they approve?

Sure. There’s no reason a counselor can’t be independent and even specialized in molestation and at the same time a devout Christian.

 

[QuestLove]

The operative word here is SEEMS. Until yesterday, it SEEMED Josh Duggar was a virtuous gentleman would have never dreamed of touching ANY woman sexually who was not his wife, much less subjected his own sisters to such behavior. Now we know differently.

So, who’s to say we won’t find out more troubling information in the future? Often, additional victims of abuse come forward when they find out they aren’t alone.

If people want to give him the benefit of the doubt and call that being charitable, that is one thing. But I think we need to guard against jumping to conclusions to either absolve Josh or condemn him.