Josh Duggar-Reality TV Star, Family Activist, Child Molester

rugcat said:

It could have been worse for the family. What if Josh had turned out to be gay?

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Now that would have been a tragedy. He'd still be working, trying to sweat the gay away.

I'd like clarification on the church elders. The Duggars have their own church - referred to in snarky segments of the Internet as the Church of the Holy Basement, as they take a deduction for hosting their own services for themselves in their own house. They also sometimes host their friend giant quiverfull family, the Bates, who also have a show on TLC, after having appeared on the Duggars' show.

So... who are these church elders they speak of, if the family itself is their church?

Took them damn too long, but finally...

TLC Pulls '19 Kids and Counting' in Wake of Josh Duggar Molestation Admission

The network aired Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Do you expect their brain cells to move that fast?

Awww, Mike Huckabee is standing by . . . . Josh Duggar. He posted on his Facebook page that "inexcusable" doesn't mean "unforgivable" and that Josh dealt with it "openly and honestly." Excuse me, I need to go and be sick now.

I find it really disturbing that they tried to cover up the fact that he molested one of his sisters when she was so young she is described in the police report as sitting in his lap while he reads a story to her. And yet everyone seems to be treating this like he just accidentally turned his car right into child-molestation-street for a few minutes. Like it's no big deal. I would actually have gained respect for the parents if they had treated this like the serious criminal matter that it is. But no. I feel really bad for the girls. My heart broke when the police report describes the investigator as asking one of the daughters if she knew why she was there, and it says she starts crying.

(here is the recent report leaked at InTouch. http://imgur.com/a/zqPMi#14)

elinor said:

I find it really disturbing that they tried to cover up the fact that he molested one of his sisters when she was so young she is described in the police report as sitting in his lap while he reads a story to her. And yet everyone seems to be treating this like he just accidentally turned his car right into child-molestation-street for a few minutes. Like it's no big deal. I would actually have gained respect for the parents if they had treated this like the serious criminal matter that it is. But no. I feel really bad for the girls. My heart broke when the police report describes the investigator as asking one of the daughters if she knew why she was there, and it says she starts crying.

(here is the recent report leaked at InTouch. http://imgur.com/a/zqPMi#14)

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And on that page, if I am reading the report right, the child was still very young when the parents apologized to the molested children and then those children forgave Josh (that is in the report so it had to have happened no later than 2006). Based on some things in the media (I really don't want to link to the court document and articles that, taken together allow onto the figure out the identity of one victim. But I do want to be careful. I'll just say that child was very young, and if a link is needed, I'll edit this out. It's just so disturbing.

Why the hell would folks like that want to do a reality show? They aren't the only sorts of people who cover up child abuse like that and handle it without law enforcement, but to go on and do a show and expect to keep that secret is so bizarre.

I don't think parents should be allowed to handle abuse their own ways, btw. I think the course of action needs to be decided by professionals (I don't know how well law enforcement does that, either, to be fair). I knew of a coworker's extended family that was trying to decide what to do about one young son doing the same thing. I really thought better minds needed to be on the case They weren't religious, for the record. Just another screwed-up family handling things in screwed-up ways, unfortunately.

regdog said:

So less than 1 year later Jim Bob didn't remember the name of the treatment program he put his son in for being a child molester. Yeah right.

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Makes sense, since Michelle admitted there was no program. On page 30, Michelle states that it was not a training center, that Josh went to stay with an acquaintance, who was not a certified counselor, to help remodel a building.

Lyv said:

And on that page, if I am reading the report right, the child was still very young when the parents apologized to the molested children and then those children forgave Josh (that is in the report so it had to have happened no later than 2006).

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Bull Shoes.

Just imagine the scene.

You're a little girl and your brother's been groping you at night. Your dad hovers over you and between berating you for obviously not being modest as to trigger your brother's lustful urges tells you that you MUST forgive your brother because you don't want him to go to Hell, do you?

I dare anyone to put forth another scenario that's not basically the same above.

The Duggar parents are responsible for this train wreck and I'd love to see them charged on behalf of the young girls they failed and failed spectacularly. To them women are no better than chattel and I have no doubt that their daughters were seen as part of the problem and somehow enticing poor Josh to sin.

Lyv said:

Makes sense, since Michelle admitted there was no program. On page 30, Michelle states that it was not a training center, that Josh went to stay with an acquaintance, who was not a certified counselor, to help remodel a building.

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From persistent accounts at the time, he was sent to a Gothard reeducation camp for having brought 'sin' into the family, which was blamed, theoretically, for his father's political loss.

This is what happens when girls and women are considered mere chattel for the family's males to control, use, and give away to other men as they see fit. It is more to be expected than surprising.

So glad to see this sickening breeding cult show end. I won't be surprised if much more comes out in the future. Hopefully, the younger girls will get some freedom and real choice about their lives.

backslashbaby said:

Why the hell would folks like that want to do a reality show? They aren't the only sorts of people who cover up child abuse like that and handle it without law enforcement, but to go on and do a show and expect to keep that secret is so bizarre.

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In the wake of Jimmy Savile i the UK (TV presenter/DJ) there are now 1,400 people under investigation many in TV and politics. A good portion of who did get away with it.

backslashbaby said:

Why the hell would folks like that want to do a reality show?

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To have a platform for their brand of fundamentalism probably.

backslashbaby said:

Why the hell would folks like that want to do a reality show? They aren't the only sorts of people who cover up child abuse like that and handle it without law enforcement, but to go on and do a show and expect to keep that secret is so bizarre.

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Fruitbat said:

This is what happens when girls and women are considered mere chattel for the family's males to control, use, and give away to other men as they see fit. It is more to be expected than surprising.

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Question asked, question answered... My guess is that they see this sort of thing as a "crime" on the level of a parking violation or tax evasion, not as something with serious long-term psychological consequences to other human beings. (Assuming they see potential fetal incubators - a.k.a "girls" - as "human beings," which I'm doubtful of in that brand of fundamentalism...)

And it's probably wrong of me to suspect that TLC was waiting to see what the public reaction was before pulling the plug... like someone there was hoping maybe it would've boosted ratings instead of repelling viewers. Which is wrong on levels I'd rather not contemplate.

A judge has ordered Josh Duggar's report destroyed on May 21, 2015:

"The judge ordered us yesterday to expunge that record," (Springdale Police spokesman Scott) Lewis said, adding that similar records are typically kept indefinitely. "As far as the Springdale Police Department is concerned this report doesn't exist."

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The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette scored a copy before the destruction request.

Oh, Denmark. Why smellest thou so foul?

Apparently, General Mills jumped ship. Advertisers bailing on the show will probably motivate TLC a bit more than viewer complaints.

ETA: @BenPanced Doesn't exist as far as law enforcement is concerned? How convenient.

BenPanced said:

A judge has ordered Josh Duggar's report destroyed on May 21, 2015:



The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette scored a copy before the destruction request.

Oh, Denmark. Why smellest thou so foul?

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I alluded to this earlier, but was being careful. I've read the request filed with the court, and it came from (supposedly) one of the victims. The reason she requested it gives away her identity, if you know the ages of the children. That' s why I think the parents were actually behind it. I'm being evasive, but maybe that's stupid, since anyone can go read the documents and connect the dots.

Sheryl Nantus said:

Bull Shoes.


Just imagine the scene.


You're a little girl and your brother's been groping you at night. Your dad hovers over you and between berating you for obviously not being modest as to trigger your brother's lustful urges tells you that you MUST forgive your brother because you don't want him to go to Hell, do you?


I dare anyone to put forth another scenario that's not basically the same above

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Chances are you're spot-on:

http://gawker.com/the-duggar-homeschool-programs-terrifying-advice-on-sex-1706406324

Bubastes said:

Chances are you're spot-on:

http://gawker.com/the-duggar-homeschool-programs-terrifying-advice-on-sex-1706406324

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Well that's a nauseating little caveat. Maniacs.

Bubastes said:

Chances are you're spot-on:

http://gawker.com/the-duggar-homeschool-programs-terrifying-advice-on-sex-1706406324

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Oh wow, that's really sickening.

Fruitbat said:

This is what happens when girls and women are considered mere chattel for the family's males to control, use, and give away to other men as they see fit. It is more to be expected than surprising.

So glad to see this sickening breeding cult show end. I won't be surprised if much more comes out in the future. Hopefully, the younger girls will get some freedom and real choice about their lives.

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I agree. I was really glad to hear TLC is pulling the episodes. I wish it hadn't taken something this horrible for it to happen, though. For a while now, I've been uncomfortable with how this family has been getting money and attention for an ideology that treats women like breeding stock and that promotes having more children than you can reasonably care for (not to mention promoting homophobia and transphobia). Though I think the Duggars have always been more of a side-show attraction than a family that most people actually respect, it's always bothered me a bit to see them treated like an interesting spectacle instead of what they are--a family that's raising their kids in a cult-like environment with an oppressive and repressive ideology. I kind of feel like this is an example of how our culture has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to religion (they isolate their children and believe women should marry young and have as many babies as physically possible but oh, that's just their religious beliefs). I hope people realize that even if the family's lifestyle didn't directly cause Josh to become an abuser, the family's beliefs and lifestyle set up an environment where abuse could flourish. They failed their daughters and any other children Josh may have abused. They also failed Josh by not getting him actual help. Josh is responsible for his actions, but he was enabled and pretty much set up to fail.

I'm glad that this is getting attention now, because it would have continued to be swept under the rug otherwise. But I really hope that people think about this instead of just treating Josh's crimes as another Duggar spectacle to gawk at.

I am appalled at the comments of my nominal brothers and sisters in Christ. So many of them are calling Josh the victim, and saying that punishing him now will destroy his life. I wonder how many of them were eager to punish Catholic priests decades after their crimes?

What of the lives of his sisters and the family friend? Nothing I've read about this has suggested that any of the girls received any treatment or counseling outside the home.

The alleged confession to the church is especially disgusting, because at that point, several mandatory reporters became aware of a crime, and apparently refused to report it. I'm pretty disgusted at the way the system failed these girls.

And even now, no one seems to be looking at Josh to see when or if someone molested him. Statistically, isn't that likely for minors who abuse?