Josh Duggar

Yup.

I'm going there.

There's no need to copy and paste an article. He is the big story on the Internet. Of course he is. Fundamentalist Christian, spokesperson for the Family Research Council, oldest son of the Duggar family, who have a hit television show on the TLC network - admitted yesterday that when he was a teenager he "acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret."

What did he do?
According to official documents, he molested at least five underage girls. Some of the offenses were felonies. Even worse, there are reports that four of the five girls were his own sisters.

Where do I even begin with this? Well, let's just go right to the top, and talk about the enormous hypocrisy of this family. Overwhelming hypocrisy. Josh was the spokesperson for the Family Research Council, a militant anti-gay organization. His mother, Michelle, made robocalls, warning people that the gay and transgender communities were coming to molest their children. AND HER OWN SON IS A CHILD MOLESTER!!! A child molester preying on his own sisters! (allegedly). She and her husband knew for at least a year what was going on before they took any steps to address the situation. And then what was their solution? At first they claim they sought counseling for Josh through their church. Not great, but better than no counseling at all. Then Michelle admitted that it wasn't counseling; they just sent Josh to live with a family friend for three months to do manual labor. That was his rehabilitation. Then they took Josh to a friend who happens to be a state trooper. Did the trooper alert the authorities? No. He gave Josh "a stern lecture." And that cured him? He's never done it again? There are how many underage girls in his family? And now he has daughters of his own. Are they safe? Did any of his victims receive counseling? Is anyone thinking of the victims in all of this? And oh by the way, the trooper that gave Josh the stern lecture? He's currently serving time for child pornography. C'mon! You couldn't make this shit up if you tried!!

So many people should be held liable for this tragedy. Josh of course, except now the statute of limitations has run out. His parents, who knew what was happening and did nothing to help their son, and more importantly, allowed their daughters and others to be molested. The church officials, who apparently were informed but did not contact the authorities. Josh's wife, Anna, who says she knew about the abuse before she married him, and continues to have children with a now admitted molester. And the state trooper, who had a legal obligation more than anyone involved, but did not make a report. This whole situation would never have come light except for the fact that employees at the Oprah show were told about the allegations, and they were the ones who contacted Children's Protective Services. 

Oh how the mighty have fallen. This seemingly perfect, happy, close knit, G-d praising family. This holier-than-thou bunch with their ultra-strict courtship rituals and potentially psychologically damaging homeschooling practices.

Thank goodness TLC has stepped up quickly and announced that the show has been pulled from the channel's line-up for now. Hopefully it will be cancelled permanently. There goes your source of income, Duggars. What are you going to do now? Politics is hopefully no longer an option for Jim Bob and Josh, although current presidential candidate Mike Huckabee continues to publicly support the family. I guess this also means that Jim Bob and Michelle's hopes to adopt children are now dashed. Would any organization actually consider them worthy candidates for adoption? I certainly hope not. Their daughter Jessa and her husband Ben have also mentioned adoption. Would having a brother who is a child molester keep them from being able to adopt? Would they disclose the information? They come from a famous family, so I doubt they could keep it under wraps. 

There is so much tragedy in all of this. One of the most chilling aspects is the support the Duggars are receiving from the Christian community. The right-wing Christian community I should say. "Boys will be boys," "It happened a long time ago, move on," "G-d forgave him and cured him, that's all that matters," "Its my favorite show; I'm boycotting TLC now," - these are not isolated comments. There is still rampant and vocal support for the Duggars and Josh in this country. These people who don't believe that gay people are human and women should be able to make decisions about their own bodies are falling over themselves to declare their admiration for a child molester and the parents who failed to protect their daughters from the predator in their own house.

The whole thing makes me absolutely sick.

librarianintx