Jessa defends her brother Josh Duggar against people who label him 'a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist,' saying that it 'is so overboard and a lie.'
- Jun 4, 2015
AceShowbiz - The Duggars opened up about Josh Duggar molestation scandal in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, June 3. In their first TV interview since the case was brought to public attention two weeks ago, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar sat down with Megyn Kelly about their son who was accused of sexually molesting underage girls when he was a teen.
Jim Bob recalled Josh came to them at age 14 and admitted that he had "improperly touched" some of their daughters. "We were shocked, we were devastated," Michelle said of her reaction. "As parents we felt, we're failures. We tried to raise our kids to do what's right - to know what's right. And yet one of our children made really bad choices."
Still, Jim Bob defended his son, saying, "He was just curious about girls and he had gone in and touched them over their clothes while they were sleeping." The parents added, "Of course this is public shame that our son did this. We thought at first that Josh was on the road to manhood at first. But he was just a kid. He was still juvenile. But there was a couple more times he came and told us what he had done, and we were devastated." Jim Bob also insisted, "This was not rape."
At that time, they tried to make sure they protected the girls as Michelle shared, "It was so important to us as parents to talk to the girls and make sure nothing else had happened." He later tried to make it right with the law. "Felt like the last step was to make things right with the law. We felt like it was an important step for Josh to confess to the police what he had done because he'd broken the law. It was terrifying," Jim Bob said.
They then sent their son Josh to a non-professional Christian-based counseling program in Little Rock, Ark. Calling it "the best decision" they made, Jim Bob claimed, "It was a turning point in his life." Josh later asked for forgiveness from his victims, one of whom was extremely young.
The parents were upset that the case was exposed to public while it was already "resolved." "We had no fears because everything was resolved and ...it was a sealed juvenile record and this stuff under law can't be brought out," Jim Bob said when explaining their decision to do TLC's reality show "19 Kids and Counting". Michelle added, "We trusted (the authorities) and our children poured out their hearts and then to have their trust betrayed and have everything turned over to a tabloid and twisted?"
Josh's sisters Jessa Duggar and Jill Duggar along with a family friend also appeared during the interview. Jessa and Jill admitted they were among the victims. "We are victims, they can't do this to us," Jill tearfully said of the attention focused on her and her family.
Jessa added, "The system that was set up to protect kids, both those who make stupid mistakes or have problems like this in their life and the ones that are affected by those choices. It's greatly failed."
While she realizes what her brother did was "very wrong," Jessa said, "I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, some people are saying. I'm like that is so overboard and a lie really, I mean people get mad at me for saying that but I can say this because I was one of the victims."
Another portion of the interview will air Friday at 9 P.M. on Fox News.
