Unsealed Police Report Reveals "Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar Covered up after Eldest Son Josh Confessed to Repeatedly Fondling Girls When He Was a Teen - and Case Only Went to Police in 2006 Because of Oprah Concerns"
Daily Mail
InTouch reports; 'Josh Duggar was investigated for multiple sex offenses, including forcible fondling, against five minors. Some of the alleged offenses investigated were felonies.' According to the police report, in March 2002, Jim Bob was told by a female minor that his son, then 14, had been 'touching her breasts and genitals while she slept' on numerous occasions. Josh allegedly admitted to this according to the report, and Jim Bob says he was 'disciplined.' He was accused again however in March 2003 of allegedly touching the breasts and genitals of 'several woman,' both while they were sleeping and even when they were awake. According to the police report 'there was another incident….[redacted, Josh] was reading to [redacted, alleged victim] and [redacted] was sitting on [redacted] lap, [redacted] had touched [redacted] breasts and vaginal area…[redacted] then ran out of the room and called [redacted] and told [redacted] what [redacted, Josh] had done.' Also 'some time during this time frame, [redacted] had been standing in the laundry room and [redacted, Josh] had put [redacted] hand under [redacted, victim’s] dress.' The police report says the alleged victims 'live with their parents Jim Bob and Michelle.' At that point Jim Bob reportedly informed the elders at his church of the situation, but no one notified law enforcement. The elders all agreed that Josh should be sent to a 'treatment program.' The family did send Josh to a 'program [that] consisted of hard physical work and counseling' according to the police report for four months, but Jim Bob could not remember the name of the program. The parents also said Josh apologized to the minors and they had forgiven him for the alleged molestation. This seemed to be backed up in 2006 when one of the alleged victims said to police that Josh told 'mother and dad what had happened… (and) asked for forgiveness.' They also added that the teenager had 'sought after God and had turned back to God.'
After he returned home from his program, Jim Bob did take his son to Arkansas State Trooper Jim Hutchens, a family friend. Hutchens had a stern talk with Josh, but did not take any official action. He is now serving 60 years in prison after he being caught with child pornography shortly after being released from prison on a previous child pornography charge. Also around this time, according to the police report, 'a family friend aware of what had happened had written down in a letter what he knew of [redacted, Josh’s] actions. 'That letter had been placed in a book and had subsequently been forgotten about. Just recently [in 2006] the book had been loaned to someone else with the letter in it and another person discovered the letter.' Shortly after this is when Harpo, Winfrey's production company, received the email about the allegations and faxed it to Department of Human Services. The email said that Jim Bob 'lies to his church and his friends to make him look good. At this moment he is in trouble with the church for lying about [name redacted] and things that concern the way the church members acted.' The individual also wrote; '[The Duggars] have been on TV before and come across as a perfect family, which couldn't be further from the truth.' The person who then called the hotline from The Oprah Winfrey Show said 'they found out this and asked the family about it, so the parents told them about it with [redacted] sitting right there.' They said that the parents told them that the incident happened 3 1/2 years prior and that their son has been 'fondling [redacted names] breast and vaginas when they were sleeping.' The caller said they were concerned this had never been 'reported' and that Josh had 'never received treatment.' The report reveals that the Duggars were actually in Chicago, where Oprah taped, when authorities reached out to them. After seeing the email, police asked Jim Bob to bring his son in for an interview but he 'refused to produce his son for questioning.' Jim Bob also tried to hire a lawyer for his son but 'at least two lawyers refused to take his case.' When Jim Bob and Michelle were interviewed, they detailed the allegations, which happened at a time when Josh and at least one victim 'were sleeping in a common room.' The Duggar children now sleep in single-sex bedrooms, with all the girls sharing a bedroom and the boys sharing another bedroom.
Another person interviewed by police, a female who was not a victim but knew the victims, said the incident 'had brought the family closer to God.' That individual, who said at the time of the interview they were working on getting their G.E.D., also said they only knew 'bits and pieces' about what happened. Police spoke with an additional person who was not a victim but knew what happened as their 'mother and dad told them during a family meeting.' They said there were two family meetings and that each were a year apart and that after the second on '[redacted] went away for three months.' The third non-victim they spoke to said they were never touched inappropriately but were touched on the bottom when 'mother and dad spank.' That person also said that they use a 'rod' to spank, and that they do it to all the kids. Police questioned the fifth victim after the other four, who said she was sleeping over the Duggar's house on the couch when her breasts were touched. She also said that Jim Bob and Michelle spoke with her parents in the aftermath. Authorities could not pursue charges at this point however as the three-year statute of limitations had expired. TLC, which airs 19 Kids and Counting, declined to comment on the report. Family Research Council, where Josh works as an executive director for FRC Action, also did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Josh's cousin Amy Duggar was asked by Radar Online what her thoughts were about the release of this report, and responded by saying; 'I have nothing to say about that.' The police report and all other documents will now be destroyed after one of the victims successfully petitioned a judge on Thursday afternoon saying she was worried that an unredacted copy might be released. TMZ reports the person was identified as 'Jane Doe.' The document states; 'The Police Report contains information, which may directly or indirectly identify the Movant as a victim of a sex crime, and Movant is a minor child.' EMAIL TO OPRAH WINFREY SHOW 'Before you air the Duggar family from Arkansas with [redacted] you need to know the truth. They are not what they seem to be. [redacted] has molested [redacted] while [redacted] were sleeping and the parents have been hiding this secret for a long time. 'Jim Bob lies to his church and his friends to make him look good. At this moment he is in trouble with the church for lying about [redacted] and things that concern the way the church members reacted. 'I think that you should know the truth before they make a complete fool of you and your show. They have been on TV before and come across as a perfect family, which couldn't be further from the truth. 'They jump from show to show to receive gifts for their family and to make them look really good too. Please consider this and confront them about their secret.'
The family is very conservative. All the children are homeschooled and only one child has attended college away from home, son Joseph, who attends a Bible college in Tennessee. The whole family practices 'modest dress. None of the daughters of Michelle wears pants or shorts. They only wear skirts below the knee that are not form fitting. They even wear long skirts to work out. They also cover their cleavage and shoulders. The boys and men do not wear shorts. The family wears body-covering modest swimwear if they go swimming. They family does not dance and does not want their children to dance. When Michelle, and later Josh's wife Anna, go for ultrasounds during their many pregnancies documented on the television show, they make a point to cover their stomachs from cameras and everyone else in the room. Josh, 27, is currently married and he and his wife Anna have three children, Mackynzie, Michael and Marcus, with a fourth on the way. They aired their 'gender reveal' party on the family's show, and they are expecting a little girl in July. The couple married on in a televised wedding in 2008, and famously saved their first kiss for marriage after a traditional courtship in which they only held hands after they were engaged. The met at a Texas home school conference. Anna is from a large family in Florida.
The Duggar family are staunchly pro-life, trust in God for family planning rather than birth control and are now campaigning for their friend and fellow Arkansas native Mike Huckabee to he President. Before moving to Washington DC almost two years ago to work at the Family Research Council, Josh ran a used car dealership in Arkansas and lived in a small two bedroom house owned by his parents. Their first two children were born in the house - with Josh and sister Jill assisting in Mackynzie's birth in the master bedroom and Michael's birth on the toilet. Marcus was delivered at a midwifery center nearby. Jim Bob and his wife Michelle have 19 children, nine girls and ten boys, and Josh is the eldest. They also frequently visit cousin Amy, also 28, their only cousin on Jim Bob's side of the family and an aspiring singer who was born out of wedlock to Jim Bob's sister. All of Jim Bob and Michelle's children's names start with 'J'. The TLC show was previously called '17 Kids and Counting' and '18 Kids and Counting', but looks to be done at 19 Kids and counting as Michelle hasn't given birth in four years and it's now grandchild time. Josh is the parent of three of the Duggar's four grandchildren. All their children have names starting with M, and the first two were born at home. Josh's younger sister Jill recently gave birth to grandchild four, son Israel, and daughter Jessa is expecting the sixth Duggar grandchild with her husband Ben, 20.
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