UNITED STATES
Mic
By Julie Zeilinger May 22, 2015
Revelations of sexual assault and child molestation are always deeply disturbing, but they seem to capture the public’s attention most when they are rooted in hypocrisy. This has certainly been the case with Josh Duggar, a member of one of TV’s most wholesome Christian families and (former) executive director of the anti-gay Family Research Council’s lobbying arm, who was recently exposed as a child molester.
In Touch Weekly reported that Duggar was accused of sexually molesting multiple underage girls in a 2006 police report, some of whom were his own sisters.
“Back 12 years ago our family went through one of the most difficult times of our lives,” Josh’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, told People in a joint statement. “When Josh was a young teenager, he made some very bad mistakes, and we were shocked. We had tried to teach him right from wrong. That dark and difficult time caused us to seek God like never before.”
While the act itself is inexcusable, the family has arguably perpetuated even more harm in the way they’ve chosen to handle it. The Duggars have focused their public concern around Josh, the perpetrator, rather than their daughters or the other victims of his actions.
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