Did Josh Duggar molest his own sisters? Sex pest's shocking confession that sent him to rehab
Josh Duggar was arrested by the United States Marshals Service and booked into jail in Washington County, Arkansas, on Thursday, April 29, afternoon where he is being held without bond. However, online jail records do not indicate what charges he was arrested for. Josh was previously investigated for molesting five underage girls when he was a teenager, four of them being his own sisters and the fifth being their babysitter.
His sisters, whom he allegedly molested, were identified in police documents as Jessa Duggar, Jill Duggar, Joy-Anna Duggar and Jinger Duggar. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read the accounts of what happened, and at the time, the family swore they had taken steps to solve the problem when the assault happened years earlier. But soon enough, Josh was a part of yet another scandal when the world found out he had cheated on wife Anna Duggar using the website Ashley Madison.
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Who are Josh Duggar's sisters?
Born in Tontitown in Washington County in Northwestern Arkansas on March 3, 1988, Josh has six sisters named Jana Duggar, Jill Duggar Dillard, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, Joy-Anna Duggar Forsyth, Jessa Duggar Seewald and Jubilee Duggar.
What was the scandal?
On May 21, 2015, InTouch Weekly published an article titled, "Bombshell Duggar Police Report: Jim Bob Duggar Didn't Report Son Josh's Alleged Sex Offenses For More Than a Year". This launched a series of articles, from InTouch and from other sources, revealing more details of a scandal involving then 27-year-old Josh and his behavior as a young teenager.
In March 2003, nine months after the initial act, Josh was accused by multiple minors of touching their breasts and genitals, both in their sleep and when they were awake. Jim Bob "met with the elders of his church and told them what was going on", but did not alert law enforcement.
Josh was sent to a Christian program where he was required to do hard physical work while receiving counseling. Josh attended it from March 17, 2003, through July 17, 2003. When interviewed at the time of the report, Josh's mother Michelle Duggar said that it was not a legitimate training center.
When he returned back home, Josh "apologized" to the female minors and said they had "forgiven" him. In the report, one of the interviewed victims says that Josh "sought after God and had turned back to God". Josh was also taken to talk to Joseph Hutchens, an Arkansas State Trooper and friend of the family. Hutchens gave Josh "a very stern talk", but despite being a reporter, took no further action. Hutchens was later arrested and convicted of child pornography and is serving a 56-year prison sentence.
On June 3, 2015, it was acknowledged that four of the victims were their daughters, including younger sisters Jill and Jessa, who also spoke to Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly. The first of the alleged attacks occurred in 2002. Josh went to his father crying, according to what Jim Bob later told police. Josh told his father he had sneaked into his sisters’ room at least four or five times at night and touched the girls “on the breasts and vaginal areas” as they slept. Josh also told his father he had fondled one of his sisters as she slept on the couch.
Josh again confessed to touching a family friend who was sleeping on the sofa, his father said. The Duggars said they punished their son after that admission. But the groping apparently continued. In March 2003, Josh said he molested his 5-year-old sister, by touching her chest and vagina. He ran out of the room crying and called his father to confess, Jim Bob later told police. Rather than contacting authorities at the time, Jim Bob and Michelle sought help from church officials. They agreed to send Josh to a Christian program in Little Rock that consisted of counseling and hard labor. After three months in the program, Jim Bob, Josh and their church elders reported the seven confessed attacks to police.
Officers re-examined the case in 2006 after they received an anonymous tip on the state’s child abuse hotline. But by then, the statute of limitations on the 2002 and 2003 allegations had expired. According to the new police report, Josh, now a father of three, told his father at least three times that he had inappropriately touched the girls before his parents sought counseling for him.
After the incident, TLC permanently canceled '19 Kids and Counting'. "After thoughtful consideration, TLC and the Duggar family have decided to not move forward with 19 Kids and Counting," a statement on the network's website says.