I will provide a brief synopsis of each issue. To read more just go to
In Touch Magazine:
1) The “licensed” counseling details. Jim Bob and Michelle and two of their daughters have stated the girls went through “licensed” counseling, but have not addressed why Jim Bob and Michelle apparently waited FOUR years before getting them into counseling after they had been victims of Josh. They have also refused to discuss that the counseling seems to have occurred only after the Department of Human Services launched an investigation into the family, following the police probe, which ended due to the statute of limitations having expired. Jim Bob and Michelle apparently did NOT get their daughters counseling from at least March 2002 when, according to the police reports, Josh confessed he had committed “4 to 5” separate acts of molestation, through December 2006 when Springdale police turned the case over to DHS. During that time period Josh committed at least SEVEN acts of molestation, according to police reports.
Any mental health expert will tell you that getting counseling as early as possible after a traumatic incident is incredibly important, and if Josh had received adequate counseling from the get go it would have spared his sister
s from abuse.
Simply put these parents failed to do the most fundamental thing expected of parents. To protect their children from harm.
2) Downplaying the molestations as “subtle and mild.” Echoing Jim Bob and Michelle’s characterization of Josh’s actions as “mild touching,” Jessa said: “None of the victims were aware of what happened until Joshua confessed. The extent of it was mild – inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while [the] girls were sleeping.” She also added, “In the situations where it happened and the girls were awake they weren’t aware of what was happening. It was very subtle.” But two police reports strongly contradict these assertions.
In Touch goes on to point out that Josh's predatory behaviors increased and that he became more bold in response to ineffective attempts by his parents to curb his behavior.
The Duggars seemed to have allowed themselves to be convinced by Josh's contrition act when all he was doing was lulling them into a false sense of security while he ratcheted up the abuse.
I have seen this myself numerous times in sexual predators.
They can come across almost sickening sweet to authority figures, while carefully grooming the victims into allowing them more and more access to their bodies, and in the end even convincing their prey that it was all their fault.
3) The escalation of Josh’s molestations is troubling to mental health experts and not to be dismissed in the manner Jessa characterized it as, “a young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls.” Dr. Paula Bruce, a California clinical psychologist, told In Touch about the Duggars: “None of them acknowledged that this is predatory behavior.
Like I said.
4) Safeguards. Jim Bob and Michelle have said (and their two daughters echoed) that after they became aware of Josh’s abuse they put “safeguards” in their home. But the Springdale police report reveals that Jim Bob and Michelle first became aware of 4 to 5 separate acts of sexual abuse by Josh in March 2002 and there were more acts of sexual molestation by Josh in July 2002 and March 2003. The parents have not addressed the fact that their “safeguards” repeatedly failed and allowed at least SEVEN instances of sexual molestation during the course of a year.
Those are not safeguards, those were simply placebos to help the parents sleep better at night.
5) Jim Bob, Michelle, Jessa and Jill all made a point to say that Josh “paid for his own counseling.” But Jim Bob and Michelle did not admit – and were not questioned – about why Josh apparently did not get counseling from a mental health professional for at least FIVE years after his first four acts of molestation, and only after the Department of Human Services opened an investigation into his activities.
I think it is pretty clear that the Duggars did not want any word about Josh's "problem" getting out into the public, since dear old dad was still focusing on a potential political career. So the only real therapy they would have received was the therapy that they were pressured by the state to receive.
6) The family has continued to give the impression of cooperation with authorities, but fail to offer a detailed explanation of why they did not produce Josh for a police-requested interview in 2008. Josh, 18-years-old at the time of the Springdale police interview, hired a lawyer and refused to be questioned.
Now that certainly does not sound like cooperation does it?
7) The family strongly implied that details from the DHS investigation were leaked. Jessa said of talking to DHS: “We did you know, we told them, we were honest. We said here’s what happened and we told them the complete story and my parents said, ‘This isn’t something people are going to blab around, you can tell them, you can trust them. Tell them your story. It’s a safe place to talk.’ Unfortunately not.” The reality is that no details from the DHS investigation or what the victims told DHS investigators have leaked or been reported. Cooperation with DHS is mandatory.
This is yet another attempt to play the victim. And WHY do the Duggars all seem to have the same story about leaked documents, and betrayal by public officials?
8) Public records spin. Public records obtained by In Touch of 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. A source confirms to In Touch that the Duggars met with their own PR team to create a strategy for the interviews.
Ahh, well that explains it. They were all coached by a PR team so that they would all be on the same page, and nobody would contradict the parent's version of events.
9) The family has continued to float the possibility that they will take some legal action against the city for releasing the records. But a deeper analysis of the situation reveals top experts say they have no basis for such action.
But damn, do I WISH they would try to sue.
10) The Duggars have continued to mischaracterize the FOIA-released police reports as juvenile records and say there were “illegally released.” Jessa told Fox: “Freedom of Information Act is not, you can’t FOIA juvenile cases, everybody knows that.” Her characterization of what was released via FOIA is wrong.
11) The order to destroy the police record. The order to destroy the police report was entered by Judge Stacy Zimmerman. Neither Fox nor the Duggars have acknowledged that the judge heard only an emergency argument from one side (via a lawyer hired by the Duggars) and no media outlet or other entity challenged the ruling, which many legal experts believe was overly broad and a wrong interpretation of the law. Even Springdale’s police spokesman noted the highly unusual nature of the judge’s decision.
So the question on this last one is what compelled the judge to have these records destroyed?
After all it seems the only people who would want these kept from public scrutiny would be the Duggar family itself, so who would pressure this judge on their behalf?
And does his name rhyme with Fuckabee?
