Jill Duggar broke down in tears as she shared the extreme measures that her dad took to try to cover up Josh Duggar’s molestation of his own sisters – and recalled how she was forced to defend her brother on national television to prevent the family’s hit reality show from being canceled.
When a bombshell report hit the web in 2015 that claimed Josh, now 35, had admitted to molesting four of his siblings years prior, and that his own parents, Jim Bob, now 57, and Michelle Duggar, now 56, knew about it and failed to report the abuse – it completely shattered the wholesome on-screen image that the family had worked so hard to build over the course of their multiple TLC reality shows.
Now, Jill, 32 – the fourth eldest of the Duggar’s 19 kids – has lifted a lid on the lengths that her father went to to try to stop their TV empire from crashing down.
According to Jill, who spoke out in the upcoming explosive Amazon Prime docuseries about the family, entitled Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, when news of Josh’s alleged abuse was made public in 2015, her dad’s main focus was protecting the family’s squeaky-clean reputation – rather than the victims.
Speaking out: Jill Duggar broke down in tears as she shared the extreme measures that her dad took to try to cover up Josh Duggar’s molestation of his own sisters
She also recalled how she was forced to defend her brother on national television during an appearance on the Megyn Kelly show (seen) to prevent their series from being canceled
A report in 2015 claimed that Josh, now 35, admitted to molesting his siblings years prior, and that his parents, Jim Bob, now 57, and Michelle Duggar, now 56, knew and failed to report it
Now, Jill, 32 – the fourth eldest of the Duggar’s 19 kids – has lifted a lid on the lengths that her father went to to try to stop their TV empire from crashing down
She recalled an ‘urgency’ in ‘trying to figure out’ how the show could continue on in the wake of the scandal.
At the time, she and her younger sister Jessa sat down with Megyn Kelly to discuss the harrowing allegations during a lengthy interview, in which they confirmed that their brother had touched them inappropriately but defended him from people who had branded him as a ‘child molester, pedophile, or rapist.’
Now, looking back, Jill admitted that she regretted taking part in the TV appearance, and that she felt ‘obligated’ to do it due to the immense pressure her dad had put on her.
‘There was an urgency in trying to figure out how the show was going to be handled in the wake of the 2015 events,’ she said in the four-part Amazon doc, which will premiere on June 2.
‘As far as recovery and damage control, you just feel like a burden and the weight falls on you to help because you’re the only one who can [help].’
‘In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done the Megyn Kelly show. I feel like I was bearing the burden and the weight of…’ she trailed off as tears ran down her cheeks. ‘Me and Jessa just felt the weight of it. It fell on us.’
The former reality star added that while she technically ‘volunteered’ to do the appearance, she felt like it was her responsibility to step up and ‘help.’
‘I don’t even like to talk about it because it’s not something that I’m proud of. If I hadn’t felt obligated to one, do it for the sake of the show, and two, do it for the sake of my parents, I wouldn’t have done it,’ she continued.
Jill spoke out in the upcoming explosive Amazon Prime docuseries about the family, entitled Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, which will premiere on June 2
She said that when news of Josh’s alleged abuse was made public in 2015, her dad’s main focus was protecting the family’s squeaky-clean reputation – rather than the victims
Emotional: She recalled an ‘urgency’ in ‘trying to figure out’ how the show could continue on in the wake of the scandal
Her husband, Derick Dillard, whom she wed in 2014, also spoke out about the incident, and he described the TV appearance as a ‘suicide mission’ for Jill and Jessa, who were age 23 and 22 at the time.
‘I would not call it voluntary. They were basically called on to carry out a suicide mission,’ he stated.
‘Like, “You’re gonna destroy yourself, but we need you to take the fall so we can carry the show forward because the show cannot fail.”
‘[The Duggars] were gonna do whatever they could to get the return on their investment. If that meant collateral damage, that meant collateral damage.’
According to a 2006 police report unearthed by InTouch Weekly in 2015, Josh’s alleged inappropriate behavior was first discovered in March 2002, when one of his youngest sisters went to Jim Bob ‘very upset and crying.’
The unnamed sister said that Josh had snuck into the shared girls’ bedroom and touched her breasts and genitals while she slept on four occasions.
When confronted by Jim Bob, the report said that Josh admitted to the incident and was ‘disciplined,’ though Jim Bob didn’t reveal what the discipline entailed.
According to the report, Josh was accused by several of his younger sisters of similar sexual touching again one year later.
At the time, she and her younger sister Jessa sat down with Megyn to discuss the allegations. They confirmed their brother had touched them inappropriately but defended him
Now, looking back, Jill admitted that she regretted taking part in the TV appearance, and that she felt ‘obligated’ to do it due to the immense pressure her dad had put on her
Her husband, Derick Dillard, whom she wed in 2014, described the TV appearance as a ‘suicide mission’ for Jill and Jessa, who were age 23 and 22 at the time
Jim Bob and Michelle did not initially go to the police, keeping the molestation allegations and Josh’s confessions a secret until a tip was made to the Arkansas State Police Child Abuse Hotline about Josh’s behavior three years later.
Finally speaking to law enforcement on December 12, 2006, the report said that Jim Bob stated that when he learned about what his son was doing, he ‘met with the elders of his church and told them what was going on.’
They then sent him to a program run by the bizarre, ‘cult-like’ Christian group that the Duggars were devout members of, called the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), from March 17, 2003, to July 17, 2003.
Jim Bob and Michelle also told the local police that Josh had ‘apologized’ to his victims and that they said they had ‘forgiven’ him, and when he returned, they believed the issue had been ‘resolved.’
The report said that Arkansas State Trooper Jim Hutchens gave Josh a ‘very stern talk’ about the matter.
Jim was later imprisoned on child pornography charges of his own, and has been in jail since 2007. He was sentences to 56 years.
When the police report describing Josh’s transgressions was made public in 2015, Jill and Jessa identified themselves as two of his victims. Later, in 2017, Jinger and Joy Duggar were identified as the other victims in a lawsuit.
When Jill and Jessa spoke to Megyn in 2015, they tried to smooth over the incident and begged the press to stop releasing negative articles about their family.
Jessa said at the time: ‘I do want to speak up in Josh’s defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, which 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.’
Jill added, referring to the media’s response: ‘They don’t have a right to do this. We are victims. They can’t do this to us.’
According to a 2006 police report unearthed by InTouch Weekly in 2015, Josh’s alleged inappropriate behavior was first discovered in March 2002, but his parents did not go to police
In 2015, Jill (second from right) and Jessa (center) identified themselves as two of his victims. Two years later, Jinger (second from left) and Joy (left) were identified as the other victims
Jim Bob and Michelle also addressed the situation during a chat with Megyn, and they too stuck up for Josh’s behavior.
‘He was still a kid, you know, and he was still a juvenile. He wasn’t an adult,’ Jim Bob said. ‘Kids will make their own choices.
‘[Josh] had gone in and just basically touched them over their clothes while they were sleeping,’ he went on, adding that there were ‘a couple incidents where he touched them under their clothes, but it was, like, a few seconds.’
More of the family’s disturbing secrets are set to be exposed in Amazon Prime’s Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, which will premiere on June 2
‘God can forgive [Josh] for these terrible things, I hope other people realize God can forgive them and also make them a new creature,’ he continued.
He also seemed to imply that a brother molesting his sisters was common, saying: ‘We talked to other parents and different ones since then, a lot of families have said that they’ve had similar things happen in their families.’
‘I think we had one ray of hope, in that Josh had a tender conscience,’ Michelle chimed in.
They also insisted that they had ‘put safeguards in their home’ to prevent something similar from happening again – which included boys not being allowed to be alone with girls, and the ‘little ones’ being told they shouldn’t sit on ‘big boys’ laps unless its your daddy.’
Josh was later found guilty of possessing child pornography and sentenced to 12-years in prison. He is now serving out his time at a federal prison in Texas.
More of the family’s disturbing secrets are set to be exposed in Amazon Prime’s Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, which will premiere on June 2.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk