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

[SAVINGRACE]

Sexual abuse of a minor by anyone of any age leaves a deep soul wound. Rape is rape. Although in this cult type environment, I would not be surprised if Josh himself has been sexually abused and also a victim. I am in no way excusing or justifying what he did.

Oftentimes the soul wound never heals, people go to their graves with that gaping wound in their soul. Others simply exist, they go about their daily chores but they are dead inside. Others seek therapy to obtain coping mechanisms and cruise along but still have intimacy issues even with spouses they have been married to for decades. I highlight the words coping mechanisms above because the pain never goes away, they just try to cope with it. I have worked with sex abuse victims, many have what I call the ‘dead soul stare’. It takes courage, real courage to come out of an experience like that with some semblance of a normal life. Faith can also play a role in healing the soul.

What it does to the body and mind can be soul destroying like no other crime because the victims are children. How does a child deal with that? It cripples the next normal stage of life, puberty. Sure we may meet them as adults but in many ways they are stuck in that day when it first happened and relive those events in their minds on a subconscious level which they cannot control.

 

[Sophie_Lawrence]

I have a number of things I wanted to say. So I’ll number the paragraphs because they are a few different points.

1: From the articles I’ve read and the police report (which is a bit hard to follow because of the blacking out of so many different things) Josh habitually touched the breasts of genitals of his sisters and another girl, often sneaking into their rooms at night. He was about 14 at the time.

This behavior is not “normal” sibling behavior, siblings have a natural revulsion about sexuality with each other. It isn’t age appropriate because a 14 year old boy should have some control over curiosity or urges. Actually, younger children might do something like this for curiosity, and not because of sex (I wonder why my sister is different) By younger I mean 5-8 year olds. I have a 6 year old that asks questions all the time, and I answer them, so differences in boys and girls are things a smaller child would be curious abnout.

Josh was older, and this behavior was frequent, and sneaky (occurring at night time).

How it was addressed was out of the norm (go live with some one and do hard labor Jim Bob says it was a counselor, Mrs. Duggar said no counseling)

What was the reason of Josh’s behavior? Didn’t they care to address the reason be it mental illness, a tendency towards pedophilia, past abuse, something,

That part was never addressed. Your son does something like this, you should get him treatment and not just punishment. Normal 14 year olds don’t engage in this. God forbid he had been molested as well. That person needs to face justice as well.

1. The other part that concerns me is the sensationalism for lack of a better word. What Josh did to his victims was terrible. But releasing this police report due to the Freedom of Information Act is also terrible. Sexual assault victims’ identities have always remained private. The reason being that it protects them and encourages them to step forward. The names were blacked out, but at least one place it said daughter. So we can deduce who they are.

I would hate any victim to remain silent because they fear their names will be released.

 

[Cider]

He was never charged with a crime. His sisters said he never touched them again after he returned from the Christian counseling ministry place. When the report was taken, the one little girl that he touched had to be told by her sister what he had done. She said that she thought he was simply pointing out the hole in the seat of her jeans and had forgotten it. He does not work with children. He was 13 years old when this happened. He was the one who informed them that he had touched them. Perhaps he was an overly scrupulous child?

Why should he be evaluated by experts? Who do you feel should monitor him and discern whether he deserves forgiveness? Who do you feel has the right to tell him whether he can continue to live a typical life?

Unless he has done this to other people, I think that his juvenile record should never have been released to the public.

Thanks for posting the actual factual information from the police report. I had read a link to it but the link I saw must not have been complete as it was just one page. So reading your many posts in this thread has really been helpful.

 

[SAVINGRACE]

I have a number of things I wanted to say. So I’ll number the paragraphs because they are a few different points.

1: From the articles I’ve read and the police report (which is a bit hard to follow because of the blacking out of so many different things) Josh habitually touched the breasts of genitals of his sisters and another girl, often sneaking into their rooms at night. He was about 14 at the time.

This behavior is not “normal” sibling behavior, siblings have a natural revulsion about sexuality with each other. It isn’t age appropriate because a 14 year old boy should have some control over curiosity or urges. Actually, younger children might do something like this for curiosity, and not because of sex (I wonder why my sister is different) By younger I mean 5-8 year olds. I have a 6 year old that asks questions all the time, and I answer them, so differences in boys and girls are things a smaller child would be curious abnout.

Josh was older, and this behavior was frequent, and sneaky (occurring at night time).

How it was addressed was out of the norm (go live with some one and do hard labor Jim Bob says it was a counselor, Mrs. Duggar said no counseling)

What was the reason of Josh’s behavior? Didn’t they care to address the reason be it mental illness, a tendency towards pedophilia, past abuse, something,

That part was never addressed. Your son does something like this, you should get him treatment and not just punishment. Normal 14 year olds don’t engage in this. God forbid he had been molested as well. That person needs to face justice as well.

Highlighted above: Can you please post a link to police report?

 

[Cider]

I checked dozens of secular sites and none of them blame Josh’s actions on “sexual repression”. So you are safe to venture.

.

I have seen individuals post exactly that on other sites. That if he’s just had access to girls his own age that were not his sisters, this wouldn’t have happened. I’ve also seen people post on other sites that it’s because he was homeschooled and because he comes from a strict authoritarian family. So yes, there are people blaming his actions on that.

 

[Della]

If we are attacked by the devil and fail, we naturally lose our pedestal that comes with pristine integrity. No one can expect to retain that sort of sacred trust once they’ve fallen. Sure there were saints like Paul, Augustine, Ignatius, who repented and reformed and converted… but if they’d fallen into sin again they wouldn’t have been so esteemed even despite being forgiven. We have to accept that ‘demotion’ as follower of Christ. That’s just how life is.

True, but there’s no evidence that Josh Duggar has “fallen into sin again.” It’s not fair to judge him now by what he did at age 14, that’s my contention.

Whether it was the parents fault or something flawed in the boy… what he did was a crime that has recognizably pathological elements. It’s simply naive to write it off as a passing phase. There is something disordered in the personality here and that has to be addressed.

I never claimed it was merely a phase he was going through. Besides, the authorities looked into it, everyone involved got counseling, why dredge it up when it was settled to everyone’s satisfaction?

Maybe the ‘sick anti-religious culture’ has staked a claim in this argument… but there are also those who have dealt with psychiatric and pathological disorders in people before that see the need to address the crime for what it was for the sake of children that may be affected in the future.

See my last answer above. The only reason this is getting press time is because of the Christian stance the Duggar family has made. It doesn’t mean they are perfect, nor can they be held to such an unrealistic standard. I’m saying that those who are relishing the so-called “fall” of the Duggar family are judging unfairly. They’d do better to look to their own sins instead of gossiping and trying to drag down a family for something that happened years ago and has been long settled.

 

[zab]

“Sin is not the worst thing in the world! The worst thing in the world is the denial of sin.” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

 

[KendraDZ1902]

Supposedly, this is what the Duggars use for sex abuse. It is supposed to be from Gothard’s homeschooling. Yep, keep supporting these losers. Their kids need to be taken away.

rebelmouse.com/BenSmith/1159149723.html

 

[Havard]

Supposedly, this is what the Duggars use for sex abuse. It is supposed to be from Gothard’s homeschooling. Yep, keep supporting these losers. Their kids need to be taken away.

rebelmouse.com/BenSmith/1159149723.html

Has it been confirmed that they use this? Of course that form is nuts, but the site linked has no facts, source, etc.

 

[gracepoole]

Has it been confirmed that they use this? Of course that form is nuts, but the site linked has no facts, source, etc.

Yes. Multiple times in multiple places. The conferences they attend yearly are Gothard-inspired, the curricula they use comes from his “ATI” group, their boys are part of its “Alert” academy… BTW, Gothard is a sexual deviant who’s been associated with sexual molestation of multiple girls…

 

[Havard]

He was never charged with a crime. His sisters said he never touched them again after he returned from the Christian counseling ministry place. When the report was taken, the one little girl that he touched had to be told by her sister what he had done. She said that she thought he was simply pointing out the hole in the seat of her jeans and had forgotten it. He does not work with children. He was 13 years old when this happened. He was the one who informed them that he had touched them. Perhaps he was an overly scrupulous child?

Why should he be evaluated by experts? Who do you feel should monitor him and discern whether he deserves forgiveness? Who do you feel has the right to tell him whether he can continue to live a typical life?

Unless he has done this to other people, I think that his juvenile record should never have been released to the public.

Why should he be evaluated by experts: Because he molested several children.

Who do I feel should monitor him and discern whether he deserves forgiveness: I don’t know if he needs monitoring, I believe he needs to be evaluated by a mental health professional (psychologist/psychiatrist). If his risk of repeat offending is insignificant, he may not need monitoring. As for forgiveness, where did you get the idea that someone else should discern whether he deserves forgiveness? I never said anything remotely resembling that notion.

Who do I feel has the right to tell him whether he can continue to live a typical life: This is a strange and leading question. He needs to be aware of how what his abuse means for his mental health. If I thought I could possibly have increased propensity to abuse people, I would want to know. That’s just the right, responsible thing to do. What it means for his lifestyle is dependent on the risks, or lack thereof, and the prescribed ways to manage said risks.

 

[Havard]

Yes. Multiple times in multiple places. The conferences they attend yearly are Gothard-inspired, the curricula they use comes from his “ATI” group, their boys are part of its “Alert” academy… BTW, Gothard is a sexual deviant who’s been associated with sexual molestation of multiple girls…

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

 

[gracepoole]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Heh, heh.

 

[seaton2005]

Thank God your confessor doesn’t talk like that to you, Kendra.

But He does. Please read the Gospel of Matthew, 18:6. He is pretty clear to me:

“but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

 

[Galnextdoor]

Yes! And it still doesn’t sound like the man they actually sent Josh to even has this.

I didn’t deny that Jim Bob originally described a building – I simply noted that there was no subsequent reference to this building several years later when Michelle was asked about it. And I think it’s pretty clear that the first round with the police was pretty problematic. That Josh wasn’t handed over to the court system for clearly criminal behavior means the case was poorly handled.

Whoa – go back and read what I wrote. I never said their church teaches that “molestation is okay.” I said they were given horrible advice by church leaders, all of whom apparently ignored all evidence about what actually happens with molesters in homes. I also noted in a previous post that the quiverfull movement (and Bill Gothard devotees, specifically) does not advocate removing a molester from a home and instead promotes the idea that female victims are responsible for being molested. Thanks, but there’s no slander or forum rules violation here.

As for Josh simply “exploring female anatomy,” you do realize that no matter how you want to spin this, he sexually violated his sisters, right? This isn’t a boy playing doctor with a girl. This isn’t “you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” I’m getting the very distinct impression than some here have no background in this issue or its consequences or its pathology. Which is fine. But it would seem prudent then not to make claims about Josh as simply a teenager exploring his own sexuality.

And as I’ve already said, I don’t disagree. However, because they are parents, they are legally and morally responsible to do what is genuinely in the best interest of their children. That they legitimately thought that some hard physical labor and prayer would be enough doesn’t make them any less responsible for the fact (FACT) that this approach to this sort of issue is ludicrous.

Really? You don’t think most Americans would be all too happy to tear into an atheist family in which this occurred? I’m a Christian – what’s my motive, then, for my response?

Finally, I have to beg you not to respond to my comments within the quote/using a different color. Quoting your comments then becomes a nightmare. Thanks!

There was only one report. There was no subsequent report that was taken years later that Michelle Duggar responded to. I am not condoning molestation in any way. I was molested by my brother when I was six years old. He is a real sick person. I forgive him and pray for him every day. I was also molested by a Catholic priest. I forgive him and offer up my masses for his soul every Sunday.

I wish that my parents had done what the Duggars attempted to do. Instead, they tried told me, a 6 yr old, that I had a wild imagination and that I must have misinterpreted something. There is no misinterpreting what he did to me.

I think that this family has been singled out because they are Christian. If they had been atheists, this thing would never had been leaked. A case in point would be Woody Allen. He adopted some of Mia Farrow’s children. One he did not. According Mia Farrow, he started a relationship with the girl when she was 17. He was her father figure. He later married her when she was I believe 20 years old. The courts found that there was probable molestation between Woody and his children. This man is still lauded in the press and is allowed to make movies.

 

[Cider]

There was only one report. There was no subsequent report that was taken years later that Michelle Duggar responded to. I am not condoning molestation in any way. I was molested by my brother when I was six years old. He is a real sick person. I forgive him and pray for him every day. I was also molested by a Catholic priest. I forgive him and offer up my masses for his soul every Sunday.

I wish that my parents had done what the Duggars attempted to do. Instead, they tried told me, a 6 yr old, that I had a wild imagination and that I must have misinterpreted something. There is no misinterpreting what he did to me.

I think that this family has been singled out because they are Christian. If they had been atheists, this thing would never had been leaked. A case in point would be Woody Allen. He adopted some of Mia Farrow’s children. One he did not. According Mia Farrow, he started a relationship with the girl when she was 17. He was her father figure. He later married her when she was I believe 20 years old. The courts found that there was probable molestation between Woody and his children. This man is still lauded in the press and is allowed to make movies.

Another example would be Roman Polanski.

 

[masondoggy]

I have a number of things I wanted to say. So I’ll number the paragraphs because they are a few different points.

1: From the articles I’ve read and the police report (which is a bit hard to follow because of the blacking out of so many different things) Josh habitually touched the breasts of genitals of his sisters and another girl, often sneaking into their rooms at night. He was about 14 at the time.

This behavior is not “normal” sibling behavior, siblings have a natural revulsion about sexuality with each other. It isn’t age appropriate because a 14 year old boy should have some control over curiosity or urges. Actually, younger children might do something like this for curiosity, and not because of sex (I wonder why my sister is different) By younger I mean 5-8 year olds. I have a 6 year old that asks questions all the time, and I answer them, so differences in boys and girls are things a smaller child would be curious abnout.

Josh was older, and this behavior was frequent, and sneaky (occurring at night time).

How it was addressed was out of the norm (go live with some one and do hard labor Jim Bob says it was a counselor, Mrs. Duggar said no counseling)

What was the reason of Josh’s behavior? Didn’t they care to address the reason be it mental illness, a tendency towards pedophilia, past abuse, something,

That part was never addressed. Your son does something like this, you should get him treatment and not just punishment. Normal 14 year olds don’t engage in this. God forbid he had been molested as well. That person needs to face justice as well.

1. The other part that concerns me is the sensationalism for lack of a better word. What Josh did to his victims was terrible. But releasing this police report due to the Freedom of Information Act is also terrible. Sexual assault victims’ identities have always remained private. The reason being that it protects them and encourages them to step forward. The names were blacked out, but at least one place it said daughter. So we can deduce who they are.

I would hate any victim to remain silent because they fear their names will be released.

What’s really disturbing to me is that Jim Bob and Michelle contradicted each other which makes me strongly suspect that neither of them were entirely truthful in talking to LE. It appears to me that they were in “cover up” mode and downplaying exactly what happened. I would not be surprised if this is much worse than what the police knew about.

These parents were hiding something.

And I completely agree with you about the police report being released. It is absolutely horrific that it happened. Those girls have been victimized all over again for the sake of outing Josh and smearing the hated Duggar name. This was political. And maybe JOSH needed to be outed, but not at his victim’s expense. There is no excuse for those journalists who did this. They could have at least blacked out any information that would point to the victim’s living in that home and being children of Jim Bob and Michelle. There is NO excuse for that.

 

[estesbob]

Another example would be Roman Polanski.

And Woody Allen

 

[Dawnia]

I think that this family has been singled out because they are Christian. If they had been atheists, this thing would never had been leaked. A case in point would be Woody Allen. He adopted some of Mia Farrow’s children. One he did not. According Mia Farrow, he started a relationship with the girl when she was 17. He was her father figure. He later married her when she was I believe 20 years old. The courts found that there was probable molestation between Woody and his children. This man is still lauded in the press and is allowed to make movies.

Lena Dunham wrote in her book how she molested her one year old sister when she was seven, yet no one was calling for her head either. Instead,experts were drug out to say how normal it is for a 7 year old to molest a one year old. (If you’re plying a kid with candy in order to diddle them, it’s not innocent curiosity)

Duhnam is lauded as a shining example of everything that is right in the world and Duggar is vilified as a dangerous preditor who should never be around kids ever again. Hmmm

 

[Dawnia]

And I completely agree with you about the police report being released. It is absolutely horrific that it happened. Those girls have been victimized all over again for the sake of outing Josh and smearing the hated Duggar name. This was political. And maybe JOSH needed to be outed, but not at his victim’s expense. There is no excuse for those journalists who did this. They could have at least blacked out any information that would point to the victim’s living in that home and being children of Jim Bob and Michelle. There is NO excuse for that.

Completely agree.