I totally agree with all of the posters who don’t like reality shows featuring kids. It’s not the kids’ choice to be on the shows, or even if they do choose it, they are too young to understand the consequences. What good can possible come to a child from being on a reality show? Shame on parents who would choose fame and money over the well-being of their children!
There is another stupid reality show called Dance Moms! The instructor is verbally abusive and just plain mean, but the parents subject their kids to it. Next time I’m too sick to change the channel, please don’t let it be set on a Dance Moms marathon.
In fairness, we’d need direct quotes from the police reports. And let’s be careful about the rags. The same train wreck lookyloo that drew people to the show can backfire today if we fly to, say, InTouch.
So he didn’t want to ruin HIS OWN life by continuing with the molestation. Typical. It’s not like he cared at all for his victims… wait, weren’t they his own sisters? What a piece of trash he is.
@lookingforward, the police reports are included in the InTouch article. Names are redacted, though. I believe they were obtained via Freedom of Information Act.
My comment earlier about not knowing if this was “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” was obviously incorrect. This really is creepy.
I agree with @romanigypsyeyes that if you’re not given the basic facts of life while you’re growing up, you’re going to be extra-curious. But this is really creepy.
I always felt Josh was “posing” as an adult. But I attributed that to his being the oldest of 19, which I’m sure does a number on you.
The fact that one of his sisters still doesn’t feel safe in the house means that she’s certainly got lasting damage, even if he’s accepted Christ into his life.
My understanding is that in this family the children are not supposed to kiss anyone before marriage. They have very rigid rules for courtship that include chaperones, and my impression is that the prospective spouses were chosen from families who have the same religious philosophy. I think in repressive environments such as this, adolescents will sometimes find unhealthy ways of expressing their sexuality.
I’ve never seen the show, so forgive the ignorance here, but didn’t the article say he was a young teen when this happened? So exactly how old were he and his sisters at the time? If he were 13 and his sisters 10-12 or so, then is this really, technically, “child molestation” or is it, rather, incest?
@Zekesima He was a teenager and his sisters are younger than him. He was about 14 and the next sibling is 2 years younger than him. He molested 4 of his sisters. So he molested either Jana, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, or Joy who were 12, 11, 9, 8, and 4, respectively at the time when he was 14. Those were the only ones alive at the time he was caught. He was also caught at 14, so it’s very plausible that he was doing it in years prior, so perhaps they could’ve been even younger. A 14 year old touching a 4 or 8 year old is molestation and incest in my view.
And let’s be real. He did manual labor as a punishment for sexually assaulting his siblings. That’s hardly a sufficient punishment for being a predator. He probably never stopped and knowing how nutty the parents are, they probably let it happen in their home. Hell, they probably even watched. They clearly have no regard for their daughters’ safety.
He was 14 and, according to the accounts, was discovered by his father exiting his sisters’ bedroom. One has to wonder if he was a victim of molestation himself to act out in such a way. It didn’t sound as if the activity was consensual (“In an interview with authorities in 2006, Jim Bob and Michelle recounted several instances where their children said Josh had fondled the breasts and vaginal areas of his sisters while they were sleeping as well as another instance outside their home.”), but you raise an interesting question, I think, @Zekesima.
I just hate that the entire Duggar family (ie, including the sisters who were victims, the tiny ones, really all other kids) are now tainted by scandal.
I do believe that God, through Christ, forgives sin. But that does not mean the victims should be unprotected or that the wrongdoer is shielded from Earthly consequences. Josh should have been kept away from young girls. Period.
I’m skeptical that religion necessarily played a role in the molestation. I know a molester who grew up in a home of relaxed sexual values (in contrast to the Duggar’s home) and with a religious background that was almost the polar opposite of the Duggar’s. This person choose to molest a younger sibling. Religion wasn’t a factor.
The sisters closest in age to him are Jana (two years younger), Jill (three years younger), Jessa (five years younger), Jinger (six years younger), and Joy-Anna (ten years younger). Even if he was a young teen of 13-14, the possibility that he molested his eight, seven, or even four year old sisters is a real one. Even if he had molested sisters at 10 or 11, 10/11 year old girl can certainly be molested by a 13/14 year old boy, especially when it was said he committed the acts often while they were sleeping.
Let’s not forget that one sibling stated to feeling unsafe living in that house in recent years. We can’t know for sure who that was, or how far down this abuse went.
"“I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life,” he wrote. “I sought forgiveness from those I had wronged and asked Christ to forgive me and come into my life.”
So he didn’t want to ruin HIS OWN life by continuing with the molestation. Typical. It’s not like he cared at all for his victims… wait, weren’t they his own sisters? What a piece of trash he is."
This is fairly typical. My sexual abuser (he was 16 and I was 5 when it started) blames me for his becoming an alcoholic (if he hadn’t abused me, and later felt guilty, he wouldn’t have started drinking).
I don’t think that when children have been abused that the statute of limitations should be so brief.
I wonder what kind of relationship the girls will have with their parents, who not only did not protect them from the abuse, but it seems like their brother was more supported than they were.
The parents on Facebook said the difficult experience brought their family closer to God.
Closer to God? How about closer to your children so you at least knew what was happening in your own house?
I obviously have no problem judging those who make it their business to judge others.
But really, nothing that they do would surprise me.
I am especially disgusted by the family press statements. Not once did they mention their own daughters. It is going t take more than faith in god to heal from the damage, especially in a family that stresses purity. That is often a problem in abuse among evangelical girls- the shame that they feel as soiled vessels. Now that they have been cancelled I hope that these girls can find healing.
I’ve never watched the TV show, but it’s difficult to miss seeing stuff about the Duggers online and elsewhere so I know a little about them. When I saw the story yesterday about Josh, I felt sick thinking about his sisters and the other girl he molested. A personal history of abuse and rape makes me more than a little sensitive about this topic, but I do try to not let it cloud my thinking.
I grew up in a religion that recognized (and perhaps still recognizes) seven as the age of reason. Seven year old children were considered old enough to make their first Confession because they’re believed to understand right from wrong, and to be able to feel remorse and make restitution for transgressions. So the fact that Josh was 13 - 14 when he committed these acts did not seem like any sort of excuse to me. I’m all for rehabilitation when people engage in criminal behavior but I believe in consequences, too.
Today, someone close to me expressed the opinion that he’s upset about the public outcry over Josh’s behavior that seems to be calling for him to be punished today for what he did years ago as a young teen. When I said that while I don’t know what would be appropriate, not having all the facts, it seems that both Josh and his parents need to take more responsibility for the victims’ psychological and emotional suffering. I don’t think saying that God has forgiven makes it all better. He got very upset and said we should all be glad we haven’t been held accountable for everything wrong we did as children. Fortunately, others joined us and we changed the topic.
How must Josh’s sisters feel, having this nightmare made public and having to relive it? What in the world were their parents thinking to do the TV show? I didn’t understand why anyone would subject their family to that scrutiny, and find it even more baffling now. Surely, the parents must have realized that Josh’s behavior would become public knowledge once they chose to put themselves in the spotlight.