Josh Duggar alleged sexual abuse - new developments

[polecat]

I seriously don't think they'll be writing any books. Or that they should for the money.

This isn't a story, or another plotline for the show. This is a horrific case of abuse.

Yes, it *is* horrific, and as such, I think they should do whatever they believe is best for their own healing and needs. If writing a book helps them heal, then by all means, write that book. If shouting it from the rooftops helps, do it. If quietly going about their lives and seeking counseling from trusted and trustworthy advisors helps them heal, then I hope they do that. Mostly, I hope their asshole parents, abusive brother and manipulative TV network step the hell away and let them do what they need to do to heal, find peace and move beyond this nightmare.

Many abuse survivors have found healing in taking control of their stories and writing about them. I'm one of them. It's not about money. It's about taking back what was wrongfully stolen from you. It's about becoming the author of not a book but your life.

[eh02]

Ahh, the FRC resignation we've all been waiting for. Guess that house in Arkansas will come in handy.

Josh will, probably unfortunately, never be able to live this down. Jim Bob and Michelle should be more ashamed than him. If this went on for SEVERAL YEARS, to FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE - someone should be held responsible, and ultimately, it should be an adult, not 15 year old Josh.

And Anna's statement about her parents knowing about this when they got engaged...can't say that makes me think much of ma and pa Keller. It'd be one thing if they were getting married in their late 20s and it was far in his past. But it sounds like this ended pretty close in time to when he first met Anna. WHO would let their young daughter marry someone who clearly still has a LOT of issues to work through before being ready for adult life, much less marriage, much less parenthood?

[grandmadugger]

http://www.people.com/article/josh-dugg ... _peoplemag

[singsingsing]

This is the ghost of singsingsing. I've risen from the grave just for this. Actually, I kind of debated posting as I'm sure if anyone cared enough they could discover my identity irl and out me, but 1) I don't think anyone cares enough, and 2) I'm not saying anything confidential. I have absolutely nothing to do with any of this.

Still, I'm going to try to be as vague as possible here because I am paranoid. I work in a justice-related field. A large part of my job involves releasing police reports. I also work closely with the person in my department whose entire job is FOI. HOWEVER, I have no inside knowledge of this case whatsoever. I am not familiar with the legal system in Arkansas. So take all of this with a grain of salt. This is only my opinion, informed by my experience, which may or may not be relevant at all to this situation.

1. The police reports look entirely real.

2. The interview summaries probably look repetitive because they asked the victims the exact same questions. We're not getting the exact responses because we're only getting the summary.

3. I am surprised that a police officer even commented on this. I am even more surprised that the report was released. The report itself is heavily redacted, and it was done by hand, so someone put a lot of time and care into it. It looks like it was printed on the 19th of May, this year, so it's not like someone just grabbed a previously redacted copy that was on file for some reason.

4. The fact that this report, even redacted, was ever released is surprising to me, especially as the victims and the offender were juveniles. I understand that access to information is easier where the Duggars are vs. where I am, but I'm still surprised.

5. It is possible that someone named in the report was the one who requested it, and that is how they were able to get access to it - because it contains their own information. I don't think it was the perpetrator or one of the victims, unless they requested it and specifically asked that their information be redacted. I kind of doubt this happened, because who named in the report would have released it to the tabloids? But it is a possibility.

I've had to read hundreds upon hundreds of sexual assault reports. Sadly, this sort of thing is very common. It's entirely possible that Josh never committed any such offences again, that he feels terrible about what he did, and that his assaults where a product of youthful curiousity gone out of control due to the severe sexual repression he grew up with. None of that excuses his actions. At all. But he very well may be completely 'cured' and no danger whatsoever to his children or anyone else. Or not. We just don't know.

Josh is the guilty party in this, but I find my anger mainly directed toward Jim Bob and Michelle. Josh needed REAL counselling, not whatever bullshit Jesus Camp they sent him to. In turning a blind eye to their son's actions, they participated in the victimization of their own daughters. I have absolutely no doubt that they then pressured said daughters to forgive him completely. After all, that's the "Christian" thing to do. Now not only do the victims have to live with the guilt that they must have somehow "tempted" their own brother, the confusion and shame that often arises from such an experience, they're forced to forgive and forget, and go on like nothing happened.

Shame on Michelle and Jim Bob. Of all the things they've done, THIS is the absolute worst. The fact that they thought dragging their entire family into a reality TV series, knowing that this incident was lurking in their past just waiting to be exposed, is incredible. Now their children have to deal with the fall-out, because of their pride, hypocrisy, and poor parenting. Shame, shame, shame.

If Josh did resign from his job, good. It is the height of hypocrisy to try to police other people's sexuality when you've done something like this.

That's enough from me for now.

[happy atheist]

Continuing in Part 2: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=26066

[twinmama]

Can't really even formulate a thought/response. Wow. Given he was so young, I kind of consider Josh a victim too. On a different level of course, but he was also a child at the time.