InTouch Weekly has been doing a bang-up job with their reporting on this Duggar horror show. After Part 1 of the Duggars’ Fox News interview last Wednesday, InTouch released an amazing takedown of all of the lies Michelle and Jim-Bob told Megyn Kelly. Part 2 of Kelly’s interview aired on Friday night, and most media outlets did coverage that night or the next day – go here to read my assessment of Jessa and Jill’s interview. While they are profoundly sympathetic, they also told a whole lotta lies. So on Sunday, In Touch released their second Duggar takedown, which is – at this point – easily InTouch’s sixth major exclusive on this continuing horror show. You can read the full piece here – the headline is “11 Things the Duggars are Still Hiding After Second Interview.” The following is my summary and edit of the piece.
The “licensed” counseling lies. The Duggars maintained that the whole family got “licensed” counseling, but InTouch points out that Jim-Bob and Michelle “apparently waited FOUR years” after the 2002/03 molestations. The Duggars also omitted the fact that the licensed counseling happened as part of the Department of Human Services investigation in 2006/07. Josh Duggar’s victims did not get counseling back in 2002/03.
The police reports contradict the story of Josh’s “mild touching” of his “mostly asleep” victims. In Touch’s reading of the police reports includes the fact that Josh’s behavior escalated over the course of a year. Josh’s first victims were asleep, but when he was 15, he molested his five year old sister when she was sitting on his lap and he also cornered one girl in the laundry room and put his hand up her dress. The Springfield police report “also reveals that Josh molested another awake victim outside the home.”
Josh’s behavior showed sexual compulsion, not curiosity. InTouch quotes a psychologist named Dr. Paula Bruce who asserts, “None of them acknowledged that this is predatory behavior. It’s classic. It’s got dominance and exploitation…That’s a pattern of someone who is becoming more sexually compulsive and increasingly so. That’s not the pattern of someone who is resolving their sexual compulsivity.”
The failure of the “safeguards.” Jim-Bob and Michelle claimed they put “safeguards” between Josh and his victims soon after Josh self-reported in March 2002. But they didn’t address the fact that Josh was still molesting for the next year. And why did it take a full year for Josh to be removed from the house?
Josh paid for his own counseling. Jim-Bob, Michelle, Jessa and Jill all stated that Josh paid for his own counseling. But… they didn’t say when. Josh didn’t get counseling from a mental health professional until five years after the initial 2002 molestations. His “counseling” in 2003 was done by “a family friend who remodeled homes but was not a licensed mental health professional, according to the police report.”
The Duggars did not fully cooperate with authorities. The police requested an interview with Josh in 2008 (when Josh was 18) and Josh refused to go. Jim-Bob hired a lawyer for Josh and Josh refused to be questioned. That’s not “fully cooperating.”
Jessa and Jill called out the Arkansas DHS. Except as I said on Friday, the DHS records were not part of the FOIA request. Nothing from the DHS investigation has been reported or leaked. Also, the Duggars participation in the DHS investigation was mandatory, not optional.
The Duggars flew in a crisis public relations specialist. InTouch got a tip that a “plane used by the Duggars show that it flew to the location of their crisis public relations specialist prior to giving these interviews in an attempt to save their TLC show.” The Duggars also met with “their own PR team” ahead of the interviews.
InTouch has gotten advice from first amendment lawyers. Those lawyers believe that if the Duggars try to sue InTouch, they would not have a legal leg to stand on. The Duggars are especially up sh-t creek because Arkansas has some of the best public records laws in America.
The police investigation records were not “juvenile records.” The Duggars repeatedly claimed that they were. Because the Duggars were only investigated years after Josh’s year full of molestations, Josh was 18 years old by the time the investigations were concluded.
The destroyed police record. Judge Stacy Zimmerman ordered the police records to be destroyed following InTouch’s FOIA requests (which had already been granted). The judge only heard an “emergency argument” from the Duggars’ lawyer and most legal experts believe that the judge had no right to unilaterally order the records destruction.
Megyn Kelly is a dumbass. InTouch notes that Megyn Kelly repeated attacked InTouch with specious if not outright false claims about their FOIA requests. In Touch writes: “FOIA documents obtained by In Touch show that Fox also tried to get the police report to report the story AFTER it first came out. Their request was denied.” Oh ho ho.
God, I don’t think I’ve ever loved a tabloid more. In Touch has brass balls for following through on this story so completely. And OF COURSE the Duggars flew in a crisis manager to coach them for the interviews. Here’s what I want to know: did TLC arrange the plane? Did TLC pay for the crisis manager to protect their “brand”? And why the hell hasn’t TLC canceled this GD show by now?
Photos courtesy of the Duggars’ social media.
Says a great deal about them that they think this is a crisis that requires professional management but their son molesting girls over a period of years wasn’t.
Well, this is their livelihood we’re talking about here. They have to support all those little people somehow.
maybe u didn’t know. previous to TLC the Duggars have their own businesses. They never ask help from the government. TLC is NOT their livelihood. It just happen that they were ask to do a reality show about them. That’s it. they were never poor.
So Jay, pre TLC how big was their house? Are you honestly suggesting that the vast bulk of their income does not now come from their reality show and the book deals, speaking engagements and endorsements it brought?
Also how does someone having an income make it any better that they allowed their son to prey on their daughters and obstructed police investigation into child molestation?
Weird ass priorities you have.
That was my first thought, too. Where was “crisis management when those girls needed it?” Grr.
Priorities.
Bingo. Girls are disposable.
I thought Jesus was their crisis manager.
Ding ding ding!
Love this comment.
Good Point, why didn’t they fly in church elders? Where is the guy that runs the Renovation Rehab for Troubled Teens Program?
Maybe HGTV can stick them on TV..Look we flip houses and council teenagers on not molesting their sisters.
Haha kcarp, that deal is probably in the works thanks to your comment! (While the Property Brothers are all like, “hey wait a darn minute there, eh?”)
More like Flip or Flop, lol!
Wait a minute! I don’t want that crap on HGTV!
Of course TLC paid for everything. All they care about is money
I thought, at some point, that TLC was trying to protect its investment, with the -Correction (boo boo show)- thing and this show. But the bleeding hasn’t stopped here, the sponsors have turned the lights out, so I’m beginning to wonder if all of this isn’t entirely about money, but really a political/philosophical bent that TLC bigwigs support(?). Otherwise, the delay in formal cancellation, or any perceivable outrage at specifics of this case, just doesn’t make any business sense.
Maybe to somehow protect the possibility of a spin off series with the older girls?
EDIT: But you are right, there has to also be some kind of political will behind this type of trash at TLC because they just keep broadcasting, supporting and protecting this sh*t
You’re generous with the political angle. I had been wondering if the TLC folks are a bunch of perverts who get off on these shows that exploit kids.
Perhaps the heads at Discovery channel have some personal beliefs that align with the Duggars? Which is sad considering how educational and progressive the Discovery umbrella used to be.
I hadn’t thought about that, Kiddo, but you make a great point. My experiences in local gov’t have made me realize that when people dig their heels in on an issue, seemingly in the face of common sense or reason, it’s usually a political/ideological agenda that drives it.
But from what I’ve heard, TLC’s parent company Discovery Media is pretty liberal, so they way they’re protecting the show and the family has never made sense to me. I was wondering if there is something in the Duggar’s contract that makes it next to impossible to cancel?
I’ve wondered if the Duggars have PROOF that TLC knew in great detail all about all of this the entire time of the show or unknowingly caught something on film that later made more sense in context. ie: Blackmail.
@michkabibbles, maybe the political bent varies according to individual channels, under the masthead?
I would think any contract dispute could be settled, although it might involve paying them off. What’s worse, losing sponsors and gaining incredibly bad PR, or taking a one time hit and killing this atrocity? Again, unless, THIS IS something that they genuinely philosophically stand behind.
Imo, they are holding out as long as possible to see if something further can be spun from this spool of dreck in which they’ve already invested heavily; whether that’s in the form of a spin-off show or ‘redemption’ special or series of panel discussions – or some other travesty – remains to be seen. They sort of stayed at the table and doubled-down on their initial bet when they didn’t nix the series in a timely fashion.
I don’t believe for a second that ideological or religious concerns are at play here for them; I think investment and liability and plausible deniability are far more likely factors. It’s been my experience that entertainment media peddlers like TLC view this whole thing as a chunk of property… more as ‘content’ & ‘product’ than anything else. TLC itself took a turn to the dark side earlier than this, and their ‘branding’ has been confused & disjointed for a while now.
I do imagine that damage control meetings have been interesting; I’d love to hear some of the ‘thinking’ that’s been represented there. Bet their legal department’s been included on the bat phone everyday, too.
@belle de jour, you are probably right. But the optics seem the same, no matter the underlying agenda.
TLC is really getting a bad reputation, and deservedly so. A comedian recently called them the “Touching Little Children” network, and it’s sad that he wasn’t all that wrong (I can’t remember who it was, maybe Joel McHale?)
They tried and failed to protect this brand. That interview was a spectacular f*ck-up.
I got a response to my email to TLC about Those Damn Duggars:
“Dear Viewer:
Thank you for contacting TLC.
We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns with
us regarding 19 Kids and Counting. Please know that your comments will be
forwarded to our program management and executives and will be taken into
consideration.
Comments such as yours are very important to us, as viewer opinions tell us
what we can improve on and what our audience enjoys. It is these types of
comments that contribute to creating change and improving our programming.
Thank you again for expressing your interest in our programming.
Sincerely,
Viewer Relations
TLC”
Dear Viewer,
Form Letter
Sincerely,
Automated Response
@Kiddo Yep
Yes, exactly. Nothing illuminating to say in response.
Could that be any more canned?
Their canned response should say:
“Thank you for taking time to contact us regarding our crappy show about lousy child breeders who say one thing and apparently do another.
Please bear with us as we have invested a lot of money, trips and hair spray into them, and our executives are fielding ideas for how to salvage any part of this rickety claptrap. (Etc., etc.)”
“Up shit creek” has always been my favorite phrase for a person who is “caught”. It should be used more often.
These people are responsible for not protecting their children (and others) from this guy. I would love to see them prosecuted for something, but maybe losing their fame will be enough, ugh.
Hello, that’s a favorite phrase I use. Another one is “not wrapped tight in the head”. Which also fits this family.
They can’t be prosecuted. In my opinion, they waited until they knew the statute of limitations was over – since the parents were facing 6 years in jail for not protecting their daughters – and only after none of them could be put in jail did they say anything.
It’s utterly disgusting that there are people who are going to believe their lies because they won’t read other sources to find out the truth. They’ll just take the interview at face value and he’ll keep getting away with molesting children. He needs to be in jail! Pedophiles don’t stop.
They actually paid someone to advise them on this sh*tshow?
They should ask for a refund. Then again, they may have been brought in at the last minute and did not have ample time to dig through the tangled web of Michelle’s weave — I mean, their deceit.
My thoughts too! “Wow, you paid money for this?!” What kind of idiotic third rate PR and crisis management people are you hiring here? Either that or the Duggars went ahead and did what they wanted in the face of reasonable advice.
Well they definitely didn’t go with the best, who is the real life Olivia Pope. But I guess they don’t want to hire her because #1, she’s a woman and #2 she’s a minority. The Duggar men don’t take direction from minority women!
@Holly hobby
If they hired Olivia Pope, the irony is they had “Lena Dunham” as a client too.
I know I should be outraged (and I am) but I am pretty amazed at how badly they bungled this, and apparently even with a paid advisor. Sheesh. Every time they open their mouths they just make it worse.
That’s where her weird facial expressions came from, then. (I don’t watch the show, so perhaps she always looks like that?)
I am thinking about how this could have been handled.
1. Josh be the one to give the interviews. He could say you know what I screwed up, I am/was a mess, and most of all I am a hypocrite.
2. Michelle and Jim Bob again both say they screwed up. They should have handled it differently, and they are going to be spending their time learning about sex abuse and helping their daughters cope.
3. Go away for awhile.
Most of all Josh should have been the one to do the interviews and admit to his hypocrisy and stop minimizing what the did.
There is no way that they can salvage their show after this, but they keep thinking that they can. Even if they come clean (which is what you’re typically supposed to do in crisis management 101) he’s still a child molester and they still tried to cover for him. And that’s the problem – they think they can somehow talk past it, because ol’ Jim Bob is used to thinking he’s the smartest person in the room (SPOILER: he’s not).
And how can touching the genitalia of a clothed young girl without her knowledge be seen as not a big deal when they won’t allow an engaged couple to hug? Their hypocrisy is amazing.
They are lying through their teeth. Josh never confessed to reveal what he had been doing, one of his sisters told their parents. Josh also claimed that he had only touched their chests. (Only, I know)
So it has been a great deal of denial and diversion from the get-go to protect Josh and not his victims. That cult is seriously messed up.
I thought Jim Bob had caught him creeping out of the girls’ room and that’s what tipped them off. Josh was caught, he didn’t confess out of the blue.
Springing forward and Wren, you are both correct from reports about the official reports. Multiple victims, multiple ways this predator was exposed, apparently.
This is the biggest thing I don’t understand. I watched their interviews and was momentarily persuaded that grazing boobs over clothes is not a huge deal…but then I remember how RIDICULOUS the Duggars are about any kind of male-female contact. F–king side hugs? No kissing before marriage? Good gosh. That’s when it all gets blown out of the water.
Springforward: I’m glad you brought this up, because that’s exactly what I’ve been thinking ever since this came out. I wondered if one of his victims shopped him to the parents, or if he was actually caught red-handed by them or someone else.
I think this show is on pay TV here in Australia, but I don’t subscribe. I did know of this family, though, because years ago, our 60 Minutes program featured them. I think they had about 16 children then. Jim Bob and Michelle immediately rubbed me up the wrong way – so righteous, sanctimonious and completely up their own arses, as if they had all the answers, passed on directly from God to them because they, and only they, were his chosen ones.
This entire development is utterly sickening. What a bunch of hypocritical, mendacious, vile, despicable monsters they are.
It seems weird to us, because we’d put front-hugs and molesting a child on extreme opposite ends of the scale. But their reaction is actually the logical consequence of this kind of super-strict, everything-is-a-sin ideology. (Whether it’s Christian, Muslim, or whatever.) In their worldview, lust (which could be incited by front-hugs) is as bad as actually having premarital sex, which is just as bad as molesting your 5 year old sister. They are all sins, and there is no discernment between “slight sin” or “incredibly evil sin”.
Except they wouldn’t allow front hugs but did allow him to continue molesting his sisters for years. It boggles the mind!
I agree! My husband told me he doesn’t buy that Josh went to his parents and confessed. He thinks that is an outright lie to try to make Josh look better. It wasn’t just curiosity it was a compulsion that, even after being caught, he continued to act upon and it was growing in severity…first over the clothes and sleeping then under the clothes and awake, etc.
I think TLC hasn’t cancelled the show because of $$ and they are waiting to see how much support the Duggars will get from their fan base. I suspect they are thinking of spin off shows with the girls, who are more sympathetic since they were victims.
I also think that Jim Bob is so controlling that he likely refused to follow a lot of what a spin dr might have suggested. JB strikes me as someone who always thinks they are right. Something is just not right about him imo. Gives off creepy vibes and I think Michelle is downright mean and horrible under that mask of a baby voice. I think she is jealous of her daughters, especially now that they are having babies of their own.
I’m more concerned about how he cornered one female and felt up her dress. That is sexual aggression right there. The fact that it happened after his confession means he wasn’t “cured.”
Good job InTouch! Keep applying that pressure!
I still believe there is a lot more crap to hit the fan. I frankly would not be surprised if TLC is not sitting on information. This is not over at all
I agree…..I feel there is something more hideous that is about to come out.
I just said upthread that I really REALLY wonder if the reason that it hasn’t been cancelled yet is because of Duggar blackmailing TLC- they have proof that TLC knew the entire time all the dirty details and/or caught something on tape.
Someone, especially a sexual predator with escalating behavior (which be clear, is exactly what he exhibited) does NOT just stop on their own when they haven’t been punished; when they essentially got away with it and there were plenty more potential victims.
Maybe they’re waiting for these people to dig themselves a deeper hole.
^ This is my hunch, too: that legal has them waiting until a pre-determined line has (or enough lines have) been provably & definitively crossed, as per the contract, for issues like morals clauses, advertising boycotts, channel distributor losses, direct subscription cancellations, etc.
I wonder if they had a less strict framework for the Duggars vs. the BooBoo Hilbillies in place, because they were so ‘straitlaced’ and they thought the risk was less? That would warm the cockles of my irony-loving dark heart to no end.
But why would you need a crisis manager when you’re the victims? When everyone is illegally releasing your information? When your son “didn’t rape anyone”? How are you in crisis if it’s just the crazy liberals ganging up on you for your good “Christian” belief?
Ugh. I’m burnt out. As stated in the article, they were trying to save their show. It’s f@cking despicable, and these POS people should never have been given a platform.
Shambles
I’ve reached my end. He did it. What he did and the details keep getting worse the more we find out. The family is horrible. Not Christians. And my heart goes out to the little girls in that family. They’re not safe there.
Someone was telling me of times when even athiests hope for a god.
1. Foxhole
2. That there’s a real Hell to put people like this that never get punished for all the pain they cause others in life.
They need to be stripped of any respect TLC or their peers/community give them. And their money. And a platform to speak. They’re sick and selfish. Everything I learned in church that was wrong and evil is everything these people do.
They’re not christians. They’re scum. Now, excuse me before my rage boils over.
Don’t let it boil, Sweet Florc. Guuuus fraaaa baaaaa <3
InTouch is usually full of $&@# but I appreciate them committing to this story and going where People won’t. I wonder if People will have the nerve to give them a cover when the next baby is born?
People on Saturday printed a story regarding I think Jill Duggar, who a day after the interview decides Intsagram was the best place to parade her son celebrating his 2 month birthday. I shit you you not! Coming from the person who blamed the media, it spoke volumes.
This family has a real warped set of values. Protecting ones image apparently is deemed more important than protecting ones children and getting their son some real professional help.
In the cult that they ascribe to (Bill Gothard’s Patriarchal IBLP (Institute of Basic Life Principles and Advanced Training Institute) (ATI), image is huge and the Duggars so invested in their image and “brand” that they refuse to even entertain the possibility that what they believe might be damaging. But the evidence of kids who grew up in this belief system and the damage it’s done is all over the internet.
“Kids who grow up in this system are destroyed emotionally, their capacity to form normal healthy relationships shredded to bits, their trust in others eradicated, their self-confidence sapped, their pride in themselves destroyed. The Duggar family is revealed by the Josh Duggar scandal to be considerably more dysfunctional than the “worldly” families over whom they claim the moral high ground. When abuse victims do dare to speak out against their abuse, their families are ill-equipped to help their children–relying instead on pseudo-counseling materials that victim-blame and silence any show of dissent or dissatisfaction with patriarchy; indeed, Josh’s parents did not handle their newfound knowledge responsibly or appropriately. Instead, every action they took was designed to silence the scandal and protect the molester from justice. As a blogger at Homeschoolers Anonymous noted, “Bill Gothard’s cult creates a world in which abuse thrives in secret, and those that need help the most are silenced and shamed…Some of Bill Gothard’s followers confronted him about his system’s abusiveness and his own history of moral and ethical failures; his responses were uniformly to deny and smooth over any and all opposition and objections…In the same exact way, Josh Duggar was able to operate because…his self-serving parents silenced his accusers and covered up his shameful deed..because at this point they’ve invested so much in this movement that all they can do is try to defend it.
– See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/excommunications/2015/05/3-things-the-josh-duggar-scandal-reveals-about-christian-patriarchy/#sthash.DESHgzmr.dpuf”
A crisis manager? In other words a bull***t artist who will train them how to lie. At this point, my anger is directed towards Michelle. As a mother, and as a woman how can you knowingly allow this monstrous behavior towards your own daughters continue? How can that maternal instinct not kick in to protect your girls? Maybe she herself was brought up in such a sick environment and was trained to think it’s ok, it’s just a little mistake, a bad choice. IDK as his mother I would’ve been kicking his twisted ass all over that house and throwing him out the door as I was calling the police.
Moms throwing their victimized children under the bus in order to save/hang on to worthless boy friends(and it’s usually the BF) is unfortunately way too common. Here you have a woman who initially wants to save her son, and now present day- wants to keep the $$$ rolling, so sadly not too surprising. I keep wondering if the other shoe to drop is that he peeped on his younger brothers as well.
Sorry but this is sexist drivel. There is no reason why a mother should be anymore protective of her children than a father should. This reasoning puts an extra burden on women and is offensive to men everywhere who would gladly rip the throat out of anyone who harmed their kids.
Michelle AND Rimjob Duggar are BOTH shitty parents.
I think TLC’s silence on this whole thing has been bizarre. I hate to be a conspiracy freak, but it makes me think that someone high up the chain is part of the evangelical power structure and will do anything to keep this show on the air. Obviously they knew what was going on and have for a while, so someone with deep pockets/influence is doing their best to suppress it since there has been very little reported on that aspect of it.
Some big news outlet needs to do an in-depth article on TLC!
My guess is TLC knows people who would never watch this nonsense show are going to be tuning in for at least a glimpse out of curiosity. As they seem to have few ethics, they are probably keeping it on to squeeze the last dollars out of the franchise from curiosity peeks. TLC is in this for money, you know.
You asked all my questions for me so I’m done except to say the plot sickens.
Except…(twirls moustache) … maybe this crisis-manager thing will prove to be the ‘missing link’ between TLC and the Duggar parents’ media ‘defense?’
I don’t know when, why, or how InTouch Weekly started hiring real journalists with – as you correctly note – some big brass balls, but they are doing the Lord’s work with this story. Good for them for exposing the crimes and especially the hypocrisy.
But the lead photo with creepy Josh peeking out from behind his parents will be in my nightmares tonight.
That is a creepy photo!
Their media strategy including sound bites that they all repeated (except Jessa) made it very obvious in the first few minutes of the parent interview that they had hired professional media team to craft and direct their show recovery plan. The daughter posted a photo of her baby for the first time ever on Twitter on Sunday. Hmm, wonder who gave her that idea.
This family is not at all humbled by this. And everything focuses on defending themselves and tactics to try to save their show. Even the statement Josh released last week was all about himself. He said one thing that his parents did that helped him a lot was point out how **his** life will be ruined if he didn’t shape up. In that same statement Josh didn’t say anything to the effect that he realized he was hurting other people which motivated him to stop.
And I don’t see any evidence the parents are sorry about Josh’s abuse, their incompetence in handling it or their ongoing lying. They are sorry about getting caught and at the prospect of losing their show though.
When celebs mess up they’re supposed to apologize and then disappear for several months or longer. The Duggars need to shut up and disappear.
Who was the crisis manager, Megyn Kelly? *Rimshot*
Or Kelly Rutherford. Because American kids are being victimized by the legal system, you know, and not because of direct result of the parents actions.
Ha! I laughed out loud, Kiddo. Perfect.
who were their experts? kris and caitlyn, woody allen and courtney stoddards mom?
Oh you know Kris Jenner would’ve managed this better. And I say this as an avid Kardashian hater. “Mild” scandal like Tyga-Kylie? Sure. Full blown something like this? Look at Caitlyn’s (or Bruce’s considering she was still “Bruce” at the time) hit and run that resulted in a death. That’s all but slid out of the news.
In all fairness, it wasn’t a “hit and run.” As much as I hate the Kardashian/Jenners, Bruce was in a chain accident that caused a woman’s death. He was hit from behind and then he hit someone. He never went anywhere afterward.
Yeah, I’m really getting tired of people calling Caitlyn (then Bruce) a murderer. He was involved in a car ACCIDENT. The Sheriff’s Department has ruled and she’s not being charged because while its a tragedy someone died, Jenner is not responsible legally. Morally? Feel free to debate that.
Call Caitlyn a shi**y father, a media whore, etc. But she’s not a murderer.
then bruce was in a car accident where he was hit from behind but he was hauling something he was not qualified to haul and texting at the time, so i wouldnt say it was all his fault but i would say he was a participant, esp due to the texting.
I did not say she was a “murderer” but a “hit and run that resulted in a death” that involved no “running”, my apologies.
Wha-wha-wha-what?!?!? Where did this revised history of this accident come about? Bruce was not “hit from behind and then he hit someone.” Bruce was driving a big SUV, towing a rig which was carrying something. He drove too fast around a curve on Pacific Coast Highway, where there were cars stopped at a red light. He hit the last woman in line of the cars at the light, which pushed her into oncoming traffic, where the poor lady was front ended by a Hummer. Bruce’s car then went on to hit the rear of the car in front of that one, the white Prius, that the K fans & K PR were so eager to blame for the whole accident, claiming that that poor woman “was stopped in the middle of the road to make an illegal u-turn.” She was stopped at a red light. The whole accident was caught on tape. Bruce is at fault for the entire accident. As a Malibu resident, he should have known to slow down going around that curve, but he was going to fast (not speeding) to stop the heavy vehicle + tow he was driving. The Los Angeles County Sheriffs-to-the-Stars, and the Los Angeles-District-Attorney-to-the-Stars have not seen fit, apparently, to charge him (ooops, mean her, not used to the change yet) with causing the accident, at least yet. The woman who died had no family here, just two step kids on the East Coast who are suing Jenner. That’s the way it is with the Klan, they are always speeding, texting, or taking selfies while driving, blocking traffic for pap shots. The Sheriff’s pull them over and give them “a stern talking to”, haha, and send them on their merry way. They never get tickets. Bruce was not texting at the time of the accident, he was smoking. He was papped a couple of days later texting and driving though.
No, Bruce was NOT hit from behind.
Traffic slowed and he did not adjust his speed. He cause the 1st impact. He hit the car in front of him, causing it to go into on coming traffic. He then hit the car in front of that car (the 2nd car in front of him).
They are still conducting a vehicular manslaughter investigation.
tiffany thanks for the correction
You’re welcome! I know when the story first hit the news, there were so many variations of what happened. It can get hard to keep everything straight! As this happened on a road in an area that I frequently drive, I tuned in a little more than your average bear. 😉
Wow that crisis manager SUCKS. What a complete and utter fail. Those interviews were awful. Jim Bob and Michelle were obviously deflecting and trying to manipulate the situation. There was zero sincerity. I don’t think they swayed anyone to their side and probably embarrassed some supporters with their obvious shadiness. I think the only person that looked truly authentic was Jill and she spewed bullshyt at points too (but at least she APPEARED like a real human being)
The ‘crisis manager’ seems to have been about as competent as the child pornographer/counselor. These failures as parents / human beings make interesting choices all around.
For real. They all parroted the same talking points. You NEVER do that when seeking to appear authentic.
No, Jill was acting her little heart out. It was obvious to me she had been well coached and was playing her role very well, but she was not sincere at all.
It would be interesting to see an interview with the In Touch reporters. They have done a good job with this story!
It’s amazing that we often have to rely on a tabloid to break a story like this rather than a reputable newspaper, but a lot of newspapers have gone down the tubes in terms of quality and financial resources. I agree that In Touch and its reporters have done a good job with this story and should continue its investigation. I’m sure there is a lot more dirt that can be found on both the Duggars and TLC’s protection of this family.
This, this, this, 1000 times this! I miss the death of good investigative journalism. But sometimes it resurfaces in the tabloids.
I’ve done crisis management communications, run PR campaigns and media training.
First thing I would have advised the parents in this situation? Shut up. Nothing will ‘fix’ this. Not even a complete mea culpa and evidence that you have had an epiphany that you are rotten and hypocritical human beings.
And I CERTAINLY would not advise trying to turn the child molestation you let go on for years into *you* now being the victim because your actions are now public. Even more so if my client had spent years viciously slandering others with accusations of perversion and child predation.
And if I had been advising the girls? First off, wake up. You were molested. Second, get off of social media for a while. Then, put out a short statement saying a) Sexual abuse of any kind is a serious issue, b) Thank you for your love and concern, c) Please respect our privacy while we work through our emotions about the fact that our own experiences have become so public.
How anyone with experience in PR or crisis comms thought the Kelly interview would do anything but make the situation worse is beyond me.
That’s honestly what I expected to happen but they’re playing up the “persecution” angle that so many people are throwing out on their facebook page. They probably live in this bubble of “Well look at all of these people supporting us! The rest just need some explanation and then it’ll all be fine.”
The persecution angle is what sells with the evangelicals. Duck Dynasty was able to parlay their hate speech against gays into an even better deal and with a bigger fan base.
I was thinking the same thing, that the best course of action would be to keep quiet. But those interviews are not for the general public. They were for the very specific subset of religious morons who buy the Duggars’ product. I didn’t watch the interview, but from reading the highlights, it sounds like they’ve repeated almost every point their fans used to defend them on social media. He was just a kid, it was so long ago, it wasn’t THAT bad, Bill Clinton, Lena Dunham, Devil manipulating the media to get their holy message off TV, etc.
I’m with you Red32. Mich’s approach makes sense if you’re targeting the majority, the general public. What they actually did was targeted at their existing fan base.
I’m curious as to whether that was an intentional strategic choice by the “crisis manager” – sacrificing the opinion of the general non-watching public in order to score points with the hard-core fans … who are the ones who actually watch the show. Or if perhaps the PR people suggested something like Mich’s approach and the Duggars just couldn’t/wouldn’t play along. PR can only advise, they can’t actually force them into a script.
You are right Lucrezia. Consultants can only provide experience-driven strategy. It is up to the client to accept or ignore.
I no longer consult in this area because I found it more irritating than it was worth. Too many clients prefer fantasy to reality and believe they are special rainbows that the world is dying to love. Tell them the truth and they spend all of their time arguing with you about why you are wrong. They will then ignore consultancy designed to achieve specific objectives, do what they want and get the results they were warned about. Sooo not interested in that kind of pointless frustration.
But isn’t this standard PR for a campaigning politician? Deflect, divert attention, blame others, call it a conspiracy, minimize circumstances, change the subject into an argument you’d rather have, instead of the actual subject, and ATTACK? So this isn’t about abuse anymore, it’s about someone being after you with a political motive, it’s about someone else doing -such and such- at some other point in time, it’s about you being victimized by release of info, instead of the real victim, it’s about someone else disliking you for no reason, and on and on. It’s classic politician 101.
And either they paid people to comment, like politicians do on social media, or they actually have adherents who fell for this propagandist narrative, hook, line and sinker.
It is a strategy used by politicians – and, from Clinton on down, it almost always fails when sexual issues are involved. That is even more true when it comes to sexual abuse issues.
All in all, totally crappy comms advice. Which, quite frankly, serves this totally crappy family right.
@Mich, It’s the only way to stay in the game, though. If they disappear for a while, the public invests its time elsewhere. These people want a fight, not shelter from the storm, KWIM?
I hear you. They absolutely thought this was ‘winnable’ and that they could take control of the narrative. But once control is lost, it is virtually impossible to get back – especially in the internet age and especially when the allegations are true.
Part of good crisis comms is being brutally honest about what is and isn’t possible and an honest assessment of the likely responses every position will receive. Not the responses you want, the ones you are most likely to get.
If they had been my client and still insisted on doing the interview, I would have insisted that they first talk to multiple child abuse and child development experts who had nothing to do with their church. You can’t defend the indefensible but you can talk about what you have learned, advocate for other children, be honest about how you could have handled things differently if you understood then what you understand now, let people know resources available in communities to help families going through the same thing, discuss warning signs. Discuss the best ways to help the perpetrator as well as the victims. ANYTHING except trying to turn themselves into the victims.
Well, you are good at your job, and based in reality, instead of unicorns and false facades.
Great advice, Mich!
I don’t work in PR (although it was my undergrad major) but I could sense from early on that that Fox interview would be a huge misstep and major PR disaster as soon as it was announced. It should’ve been so obvious to them that nothing good could come from it and/or possibly redeem them in the public’s eye.
But on the other hand, the disgusting Duggars are only digging themselves into a deeper hole so more of their “fans” are realizing what real (and dangerous) a-holes they truly are.
I’ve been waiting for someone to do a breakdown of their interview with bullet points showing the lies and/or discrepancies. The daughters’ interview was the same way. They tried to act like their parents took actions to stop this soon after his molestation of them, but that was not the truth. They tried to fudge it that he was sent away soon after, but he wasn’t sent away until sixteen months later when he molested his five-year-old sister.
I have to say, as far as Fox, I watched on their website a repeat of some show of theirs which had three commentators and was an analysis of the interviews and/or all of this scrutiny of them and at first I thought when the “liberal” media thing was thrown around, it was going to be the same ol same ol complete blaming “liberal media” for this and poor Duggars are the victims, but it was more balanced than that. They actually all agreed the Duggars didn’t help themselves in the interview and that putting your family on reality TV with skeletons brings this on yourself. I was shocked to see it wasn’t whitewashing it all like Meghan was trying to do in her interview. When some of Fox’s own people are saying you did yourself no favors in doing this interview, then you know it’s bad for the Duggars.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4281532472001/duggars-struggle-in-fox-spotlight/?#sp=show-clips
The New York Post (same ownership) also had what was essentially a take down of the Duggars. Yes, they argued that no one would have been up in arms about it but for the fact that Josh Duggar conceded it happened and resigned, but even they say that now that it’s out, it’s bad all around and the Duggars need to go away.
Why was the Fox news request for the document denied? That doesn’t make any sense to me. If it was available for TLC, it should have been legally available for Fox, and they don’t have a legal right to withhold it.
Having said that, ugh ugh ugh. Having been cornered and molested myself, I know what that poor child went through. And her mother and father failed to protect her and her sisters. That is seriously eff’d up. 🙁
What document? You’d have to examine the requests for documents side by side, to see what the variations are.
I think it may have been because Josh ” the predator'” Duggar was then suing to have the records destroyed. The court would have frozen all FOIA requesst until that case was decided. But I have no real details, just guessing and typing. So grain of salt and all that crap.
The Washington Post and Fox submitted FOIA requests but both were denied b/c one of Josh’s victims had gotten a court order to expunge the record. InTouch and another paper got their FOIA docs before the expunge was ordered.
The Washington Post has a good timeline about this. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/23/a-timeline-of-the-molestation-allegations-against-josh-duggar/
Thank you for that. I hope the request is denied.
And you believe Fox? It depends on how the request was worded and whether Fox paid the fee – states can charge for pulling, reviewing, and redacting public records.
LIlacflowers – My source about Fox being denied their FOIA request was The Washington Post link I included above. I have not confirmed what the Washington Post said about their or Fox’s requests being denied due to the court ordered expungement. I would think FOIA requests are public documents. Why don’t you check for yourself.
Why wouldn’t they give Fox news the police report? And why would it be surprising that Fox news wanted it for their reporting? I’m also surprised to hear the Duggars have a private plane at their disposal.
Well, they are worth millions with their reality TV empire and from that the spin-offs with books and speaking engagements, wedding specials, magazine covers and stories, etc.
I hope In Touch follows the money … who paid for the plane (and PR consultant)?
Jim Bob Duggar bought a small Cessna (I think) a couple of years ago and his second son John David has a private pilot’s license and frequently makes short trips. Small planes like that are relatively affordable and JD would easily be able to pick up a consultant and fly him home, or fly his parents to visit the consultant, as long as no money was exchanged for the flight (that is, he does not have a commercial license so cannot take paying passengers.) I hope that answers your questions too, Kaiser!
Interesting. This is their plane, it’s a 4 seater Cirrus from 2004, bought by “Duggar Aviation” possibly to avoid taxes. Says it flew from Tulsa to Springdale and back last week. http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N68SY
They seem to be selling now for about $200K.
Because one of the victims sued to have the records expunged and they were destroyed on May 22, 2015. InTouch and one other publication, The Democrat-Gazette, were able to get the records before they were expunged. From a Washington Post article:
“On the same day, Springdale Police Department spokesman Scott Lewis confirms to reporters that the department has destroyed the police report in question. Speaking to the Associated Press, Lewis says, “The judge ordered us yesterday to expunge that record … as far as the Springdale Police Department is concerned this report doesn’t exist.” Similar reports, Lewis added, are typically kept on file indefinitely.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/23/a-timeline-of-the-molestation-allegations-against-josh-duggar/
Thank you for that info. I wonder why they destroyed them, rather than sealing them… and how the local police feel about it.
I find it interesting the so called crisis management didn’t stop Jill Duggar from using her instagram account on Saturday. She was showing off her son celebrating his 2 month birthday. She can use the media when it suits her and blame it when it doesn’t go the family way. This brainwashed woman is deluded.
Bingo.
“Josh’s behavior showed sexual compulsion, not curiosity. InTouch quotes a psychologist named Dr. Paula Bruce who asserts, “None of them acknowledged that this is predatory behavior. It’s classic. It’s got dominance and exploitation…That’s a pattern of someone who is becoming more sexually compulsive and increasingly so. That’s not the pattern of someone who is resolving their sexual compulsivity.”
The failure of the “safeguards.” Jim-Bob and Michelle claimed they put “safeguards” between Josh and his victims soon after Josh self-reported in March 2002. But they didn’t address the fact that Josh was still molesting for the next year. And why did it take a full year for Josh to be removed from the house.”
I’m from Arkansas, and I worked with abused kids for years. The way these stupid twats are behaving is on par with how most people act sadly. Anything to stay in denial. I’ve also worked directly with that judge and she has terrible boundaries and not a lot of sense.
My hat is off to you for doing such important work for so long. I don’t even want to imagine the situations you must have seen.
I did 12 years before I switched over to public health. Not gonna lie, by the end of it I wasn’t even professional to people like this. I had one woman who was mad that her teenage daughter couldn’t “let go” of her step dad molesting her. She said “it’s not like he raped her.” Also throw in the he apologized and is in prison WHAT MORE DOES SHE WANT FROM HIM. And I very calmly told her that on behalf of our whole team, I can safely say that the only way we feel he could really pay for his crime would be in the form of a 9mm to the face, and she needed to never say such stupid sh*t to me again. She didn’t take it very well. But it needed to be said.
Joy you are my hero. I worked on the other side of the fence with the predators who’d been sent away to a treatment facility while working on my masters in Guidance and Family Counseling. I bailed after a year. Some of our “patients,” while children, were so damaged our team saw no hope for them in the future and they would re-offend. Sad when you have to say that about teenagers. I probably would have decked that mother.
It’s hard to understand unless you’ve worked with that population, but you pretty quickly develop a sense for who will and won’t change. I’m glad I put my time in for those kids, but it was time for me to go. Now i work in public health and MY mental health us much better.
Urgh, a year is bad enough. I can’t believe Joy handled 12 years of it. My masters course had a prac requirement, and if you couldn’t find your own, then the fall-back option was a 3-month stint working with adult sex-offenders. Most of us found alternatives. One of my friends got stuck doing it though. Most were “fine” (relatively speaking), but he said that a few of them were blatantly using the psych students as practice for manipulating professionals/judges … and one in particular was not only blatantly manipulating them but clearly getting off on it as well (Hannibal Lector style). 3 months was more than enough for him.
Any petitions to recall the idiot judge?
The sight of their faces now turns my stomach. Famous for breeding like rabbits and now all this crap of molestation. It’s all about damage control and minimalization. “They hardly noticed, hahahah.” Their phony, lying grins are nauseating and infuriating. Go away. For good.
I think reality TV has proven to be a magnet for dysfunctional families. In this case, I think you have a family that is highly deceitful and greedy underneath a far different public disguise.
They are ALL desperately trying to hang onto any shred of the fame and money that this ‘career’ has given them. Even if it means lying their butts off and blaming anyone and everyone else they can for their own hypocrisy and failings.
The enabling and weak excuses from this family really have set back the topic of child molestation by decades. I’m glad they are being called out so strongly.
“I think reality TV has proven to be a magnet for dysfunctional families.”
Who else would wish to put their brood through this type of attention?
I agree. And this whole modesty bit flies in the face of doing a reality show for years. They become addicted to the fame and money.
Not just them. Anyone who opens their private life, with a smattering of script for drama, for ratings and cash would, in my opinion, suffer some intense narcissistic tendency. Even actors and actresses mostly like to have some delineation and blockade between professional and private life.
I agree with you both. There is no true modesty when you are willing to be on a reality show. There has to be self-centeredness that seems to magnify over time.
The storylines have to be ‘more’ (more drama — more shocking — more kids!!!). And every family who comes to mind seems unwilling to let go of the attention and perks.
These reality shows are disgusting. I’ve never watched the Duggars, Honey Boo Boo, the Gosselins, the Kardashians, or Duck Dynasty, but I read enough about them in the tabloids and celebrity gossip blogs to know what they are about. It’s horrible that these greedy families have gotten rich on the exploitation of their children, but the silver lining is that without these shows, their horrible family secrets would never be exposed to law enforcement. These people deserve to be publicly shamed and imprisoned for child abuse and even sexual abuse in this case. Maybe it’s better that we saw these people for who they truly are rather than not know and have these families continue to act like they are the symbol of good while trying to take away the rights of women and sexual minorities.
I always hoped their skeletons would be let out of the closet, but in the form of a book from one of the daughters. Not this.
But they have raised their daughters to believe that the molestation was their fault. It’s quite obvious that they haven’t reassured their daughters in the slightest about the fact that they were victims, because then their daughters would realize that their parents failed to protect them.
I should’ve been clearer in the comment… I meant in general, not specifically sexual abuse. I was thinking at least one of them would break away and write a tell all book or blog about growing up in a religious cult, as many former Quiverfull kids have.
Just one small correction. Josh was 20, not 18, in 2008. In December 2006, when Oprah contacted the police, he was 18, and turned 19 in March 2007.
To put the popularity of the D and K families in perspective, here is a quick comparison of their official FB pages, number of likes/how many are talking about them:
D family = 711K/51K (Their TV Show has 2M/13K)
KUWTK show — 7M/55K
Even though the ‘talking about’ numbers are similar at the moment, the broader popularity is widely different. Even Khloe, Rob and Kourtney individually have over 1M page likes. Jess’s has less than 300K after all this publicity.
This just further illustrates that it is a small, yet vocal, audience for the Duggars. I mentioned on a previous post that not everyone closely follows this show or knows the children’s identities well enough to immediately figure out who might be a victim. Fox and the parents decided to put a spotlight on it and dig the hole far deeper.
Good info!
Given how so many people sound off against the K family, I did find it interesting that they still have 10 times the “likes” as the other family’s official page.
I thought FB would be a better comparison, because some claim Twitter bots can inflate followers.
‘Megyn Kelly is a dumbass.’
This needs to be repeated ad nauseum. She is not a reporter or a journalist.
She reports all stories the same way, there is some political conspiracy AND someone just pulled the fire alarm in the high school hallway. She thinks that is a substitute for reasonable and thoroughly-researched stories, ACT like there’s a freakin’ emergency and you are guiding people to the exit doors even though you know Jim Bob pulled a false alarm while you were witnessing it.
The fact that Megyn Kelly is a former attorney, who worked in law prior to her “journalism” career, yet conducted her interviews with the Duggars in a sloppy, unresearched even biased way, suggests a lot to me.
Couldn’t Melisandre have burned this lot instead of Shireen!?!?!?! Done us all a favour. I would have brought the beer!
Jeez, betti!!!! thanks a lot for the spoiler 🙁
Sorry 🙁
As for why TLC hasn’t canceled the show, the sad reality is that they are simply testing the waters to see how strong the “supportive” viewer group really is. Television is a niche industry today, and the kind of viewer who is willing to support the Duggars regardless of what they have actually done, and in complete denial of any facts to the contrary of their positive view of them, are precisely the kind of viewer who also wants to believe nearly anything they hear on Fox news. TLC may be at a tipping point where they are going to decide whether they will pander to that audience exclusively, realizing that they may lose some viewers in the process, or whether that loss would be too great and thus not worth keeping them around. We’ll see.
They are *actively* testing the waters to see if a spinoff featuring the older daughters will click with viewers. Us magazine just did a piece on how Jill “broke the silence” by posting an Instagram picture of her baby. “Awwwwwww, isn’t he cute….” and how “romantic” her marriage is. This is pure PR and spin-doctoring in action.
Ever since I heard about these folks, I just got the vibe that something was off. It’s all too clear now that my hunch was right. This situation is just awful. Do these girls realize they were victims? Ugh, just ugh.
I have been thinking about potential ways to get around the now-expired state statute of limitations even since this story broke. Now mind you, my specialty is immigration law but I know enough federal criminal law to be dangerous and cause trouble. And while I sincerely doubt that the U.S. attorney for the western district of Arkansas will ever move against the Duggars and their enablers, I think we can all agree that we should try to think of novel, effective ways to prosecute child abuse cases, especially when it involves sexual abuse.
The criminal provisions of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act allows the federal government to go after people who engage in a pattern of “racketeering activity” and who have the requisite relationship to an “enterprise” that affects interstate or foreign commerce. “Racketeering activity” includes state criminal offenses like obscenity, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, etc. It can also include crimes like obstruction of justice, witness/victim tampering or retaliation, or wire fraud. An “enterprise” can be a corporation, association, or other legal entity OR a group of persons associated in fact (say, LIKE A FAMILY). One provision of RICO prohibits people from investing the proceeds of a pattern of racketeering activity in an enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce. Another provision of RICO makes it a crime to conduct the affairs of an enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce through a pattern of racketeering activity.
The statute of limitations for criminal RICO cases is typically five years, BUT all that is usually required is that at least one predicate offense occur within the past five years. The statute of limitations for RICO cases involving federal bank fraud is ten years. If the RICO violation involves investment of the proceeds of racketeering activity, the five year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the investment is complete.
Most importantly, to quote the U.S. Department of Justice: “Courts uniformly have held in criminal RICO cases that a RICO predicate offense is not an independent count; rather it is part of a single overarching RICO offense. Therefore, as long as the RICO offense is brought within the applicable statute of limitations period, it may include predicate racketeering acts that would be time-barred if brought as free-standing offenses independent of the RICO offense.”
What this means is that as long as some crime was committed in furtherance of the racketeering activity within the statute of limitations period, earlier racketeering activity – even if the statute of limitations has already run out – may still be included. Hmmm…this could be VERY useful.
I am still pondering all the predicate offenses that might have occurred in the past five years, but the Duggars apparently obtained the destruction of a police report and alleged that said police report was unlawfully released by Arkansas officials. They also clearly encouraged two of the victims to appear on national television and perpetuate these same claims as well as deny that the parents had previously obstructed justice. They have earned a significant amount of money through their TV show and various interstate and international appearances which they have invested in real estate and other items. TLC has not only financially supported these criminals, but they may have encouraged their witness/victim tampering and/or threatened retaliation unless the victims cooperated.
Again, federal criminal law is not my forte so do not treat these musings as gospel. I recognize too that my analysis herein is arguably a stretch of the RICO law and involves some creative lawyering. But to be honest I have seen federal prosecutors win convictions for conduct that was a hell of a lot less serious than what the Duggars did to their children. And it troubles me deeply that the Duggars have gotten a lot of attention and support from people after they MINIMIZED Josh’s crimes, ACTIVELY sought to prevent the victims from receiving help and justice, and badmouthed multiple state government officials for following Arkansas laws. It is also disturbing that this is the second time (that we know of) where TLC has promoted and made money off of a family with a history of child sexual abuse. So I feel like maybe the Duggars and TLC deserve to suffer from some novel applications of existing law – if only to ensure that they stop exploiting the suffering of children for a quick buck.
Just my opinions though. Feel free to discuss! Thanks.
Wow. I like it.
Normally legal talk bores me but in your case, BearcatLawyer, I’ll make an exception!
The daughters would be important witnesses against their parents if charges were brought under RICO, right? I know spouses cannot be forced to testify against each other. But can the now adult Jill and Jessa be forced to testify in a case brought against their parents?
Yes. There is no parent-child privilege.
But I don’t think we would even need their testimony to build a case. I would be more interested in subpoenaing the crisis PR person, the TLC PR people, and Megyn Kelly’s crew who taped the interviews of the parents and the daughters that aired last week. I would also be very interested in subpoenaing members of their church who heard Josh’s confession or knew about his “treatment” and the “safeguards” the parents put in place after he returned from his home remodeling sex offender program.
Great post! I love every single word in your sixth paragraph, and find your analysis of how RICO laws could be applied to TLC’s profits from this utterly fascinating. What to do, when the network has a clearly vested interest in deceitfully protecting its cash cow, to the obvious victimization and detriment of innocent “cast members?”
Very interesting to noodle that through …
There is quite a bit of legal chatter circulating about whether the statute of limitations really had expired when Springdale, Arkansas, police reviewed the allegations in 2006, based on a hotline tip they received.
The police erred in their conclusion that the statute was up, considering the fact that the 3-year limit in Arkansas only covers filing suit under the CIVIL statute. The criminal statute, allowing 7 years to file, was open for business when this crossed someone’s desk in 2006.
That’s neither here nor there, as both are clearly expired now. It just goes to show, yet again, how breathtakingly stupid, uninformed or just plain corrupt the authorities have been every step of the way in this case. Did the stars simply align this way, or is something seriously rotten in the state of Arkansas?
I’ve wondered from the beginning of this mess if counsel has explained to the Duggars – Josh, in particular – that should an as-yet unknown and unnamed victim come forward, as victims are wont to do when a pedophile is outed, there wouldn’t be a statute of limitations in play. The clock on this legal loophole, favored by pedophiles near and far, only starts ticking in Arkansas when the crime is reported to authorities.
It is a near-certainty, statistically speaking, that there are other victims out there. I certainly do not relish the suffering of the victims, but the image of Josh Duggar and his lying, scheming parents shaking in their shorts at the thought of another poor girl coming forward … it takes me to a happy place.
Barring rotting in prison for a good long time, I hope that disgusting waste of perfectly good oxygen at least lives in perpetual fear, and literally never gets a decent night’s sleep ever again. We all know his poor sisters didn’t get many.
The cops need to go after them for being home schoolers who are “mandatory reporters”, who should have notified authorities immediately…What protection for all the kids was there ?
I was thinking the same– if they are homeschooling, they are effectively teachers and administrators and they are mandatory reporters.
Oooooo, good one!
The governing body of their church – elders, grand pooh-bahs, whatever they hell they call them – are also mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse. Informing them, as described by Jimbo himself, was a sort of heads-up, “hey, you should know about this” kind of thing – and I got the definite impression that Josh had maybe strayed from his own immediate family in choosing victims, and assaulted another congregant’s child/ren. It was basically a committee meeting, of sorts, and does not sound at all like a confession made within the bounds of a confidential religious relationship.
To all those who have been saying “this is just the tip of the iceberg”, RadarOnline is reporting the 5th victim or so called “Oprah letter writer” is shopping around to release more Duggar dirty secrets. Time to bring this homophobic, pious, triumphalist family down!