Jim Bob Duggar

Josh Duggar molestation revelations

On May 19, 2015, In Touch Weekly reported^[21] that Duggar had told the Arkansas State Police that his oldest son, Josh Duggar, had molested five underage girls,^[21][22] including family members, when he was 14–15 years old.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]} The abuse involved touching their breast and genital regions on multiple occasions while they slept and in a few cases while they were awake.^{[24][28][29][30]}

Duggar told police he had referred his son to a program consisting of physical labor and counseling after consulting with the leadership of his church. Duggar's wife stated their son was sent away from home to work for a family friend in the home remodeling business. Upon the son's return home, Duggar took him to Arkansas State Trooper Jim Hutchens, a family acquaintance. Hutchens did not take any official action but reportedly gave Duggar's son a "stern talk".^[30] With Hutchens' later arrest and convictions on child pornography charges, the case went inactive.^[31]

Duggar spoke officially to law enforcement in 2006 after his son's actions were reported to authorities by producers of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which received an email making allegations against Josh Duggar. Because the three-year statute of limitations had already passed once the allegations were formally documented, Josh Duggar was not formally charged with criminal sexual abuse.^[30][32]

In a joint statement to People magazine following the report, Duggar and his wife stated, "Even though we would never choose to go through something so terrible, each one of our family members drew closer to God. We pray that as people watch our lives they see that we are not a perfect family. We have challenges and struggles every day."^[22][26]