15 years ago, married couple Jim Bob (57) and Michelle Duggar (56) and their family entered a completely new world and existence, when the reality series “19 Kids and Counting” came out.
The American reality series, which aired on TLC for seven years, closely followed the couple and their 19 children. Over the years, however, it emerged that the reality viewers’ favorite family had a number of skeletons in the closet – and they were all finally going to come out into the light.
Because although the family apparently had “everything” – family, friends, fame and success, the reality was different.
Everything happened behind closed doors, from sexual assault and oppression to abuse of power and physical punishment.
Became stars overnight
The world was first introduced to the large Duggar family in 2008, when the series then called “17 Kids and Counting” premiered on TLC. The family became stars overnight, and it didn’t take long before “everyone” felt they knew the family.
TV viewers were fascinated by the family, and parents Jim Bob (58) and Michelle (56) traveled the country to hold seminars on how to be the best parents. They published three books on the subject, but in later years it has emerged that the family dynamic was not so idyllic.
Even before the TV series aired, the family was investigated after the police in Arkansas received an anonymous tip about child abuse. according to USA Today came the tip in 2006.
However, physical evidence only came to light in 2015, when the website In Touch published a police report which showed that the family’s eldest son, Josh (35), had sexually abused two of the sisters. This was the beginning of the end for the family.
Abused the sisters
A month after the news of Josh’s abuse became public knowledge, sisters Jill (32) and Jessa (30) appeared in an interview with Megyn Kelly (52) – where they talked about their brother’s abuse.
In the interview, they both said they had forgiven their brother, and they praised their parents for the way they handled the situation.
The sexual abuse took place in 2002 and 2003, when Josh was 14 and 15 years old. In addition to the sisters, he also abused three other young girls, all under the age of sexual maturity.
In the documentary “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets”, it is revealed that the father, Jim Bob, took his son to confess the abuse to the police, but that the son escaped because the policeman was a family friend.
The family instead sent their son to a camp run by their church, the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
However, he was only punished in 2022, albeit for something else. In April 2021, the eldest Duggar son was arrested for being in possession of child pornography, and he was sentenced to twelve years in prison. However, he was never punished for sexual abuse.
In 2015, it also emerged that Josh had been unfaithful to his wife. They are still married today.
Was punished with blows
In later years, it has also emerged that Jim Bob and Michelle were not as perfect parents as they expressed. Because, as mentioned, they traveled around the country and held seminars for other parents on how to succeed, new details have since come to the surface.
The daughters Jill, Jessa and Jinger (29) have all stated publicly that they were sometimes beaten by their parents in their childhood. The father is also said to have been verbally abusive towards all the children, according to the daughters.
The details emerged in a report from the police when they investigated the abuse allegations against the eldest son. One of the investigators is said to have then asked the children if their parents hit them, after which the three girls said that their parents had a stick with which they hit them if they did not behave quite as they should.
The Duggar parents have also admitted to using a controversial method of raising young children called blanket training. This involves placing the child on a rug on the floor. If the child tries to crawl off the blanket, he is beaten.
This method is supposed to “help” the child to obey the parents.
– Growing up was harmful
The Duggar family today is far less close and tight-knit than it was at the height of their fame.
While Josh is in prison, several of the daughters have broken with the family’s faith. Among others, 29-year-old Jinger, who earlier this year compared her family to a cult in a major interview.
Opposite People the 29-year-old stated in January that her parents’ child-rearing was destructive and damaging, and that she has struggled with a number of traumas as a result of her upbringing.
– Fear was a big part of my childhood, she said.
Furthermore, she criticized her parents’ church, IBLP, which she herself has left as an adult.
– My upbringing was harmful, it has done a lot of damage. But I know other people are struggling, and still stuck. That’s why I want to share my story, maybe it will help someone, she said.
Jim Bob and Michelle are still married, and live with several of their 19 children in Arizona.
2023-07-30 17:13:38
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