The Kelly File: Duggar Interview 2015.06.03

[mbutterfly]

I agreed with nearly all of the article written by Dr. Lillian Glass but there are a couple of things she published in that article that I just can't agree with entirely. First of all the non-tear crying of Michelle. She said: "She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue yet there was no sign of any tears".  I have seen this firsthand in a few people and it confused me at the time. But this doesn't necessarily mean that Michelle was faking her crying. According to an article published in 2007 in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, severe cases of depression flatten emotions, leaving a person without the trigger that starts the crying circuit. Max Hamilton, who created a depression scale in 1960, commented in a 1967 paper that severely depressed patients “go beyond weeping” and settle into a cry-proof state. The inability to cry may be caused by a rare affliction called Familial Dysautonomia (FD), or Riley-Day Syndrome. While someone with FD experiences emotions like anyone else, they’re born without the reflex necessary to produce tears: crying becomes a dry display.

 

My last difference of opinion I had was that Dr. Lillian Glass called Josh Duggar a 'pedophile'. She said "If Josh did this as was revealed in the media he was and may still be a pedophile.  Pedophiles usually don’t change their behavior unless they are given hormone treatment or castrated." I don't agree with her at all. A pedophile is someone who has sexual urges toward under-aged children. This may be expressed in collection of child porn. A child molester does something physical to a child. Molesting is basically touching the victim in wrongful manner. It is basically sexual harassment law for children who are not mobile. All Pedophiles are child molesters, but very few child molesters are Pedophiles.

 

What Josh Duggar did was most certainly an egregious act, but labeling him as a pedophile isn't correct or fair.

For anyone who wishes to read this article, here's the link that another person posted earlier.

https://drlilliangla...g.wordpress.com

You have made good points. And one problem with labeling Josh a pedophile is that the DSM, in its definition, sets the minimum age at 16. No use opening up that argument when the description child molestation is sufficient, I think. Also, I'm one of those non-tears people when I am deeply sad or depressed. I didn't actually cry tears when my mother died though we were very close. On the other hand, as a retired minister I often do funerals for people who had no current church association. By the time I have spoken at length with the family (and I always do) and put together scripture along with eulogy, I genuinely grow quite teary for a person I did not know. Usually, I am close friends with the family though. Anyway, I get irritated when that '''no literal tears" statement is made as evidence of relationship. 

[mbutterfly]

How does a 12-year-old girl not know that someone putting his hands inside her underpants is bad touch? How does a grown woman believe her 12-year-old daughter if she tells her that? I think both statements are impossible to believe, and thus everything Michelle said became impossible to believe. 

[Chai]

I want to thank everyone for their excellent recaps of the Duggar interview. I didn't watch the interview myself. I knew I could read what happened here. I am just too disgusted with this turn of events. The way they protected Josh and not any of their 4 daughters makes me sick. Great interview with Dr Lillian Glass. I agree with her assessment.

 

The level of hypocrisy astounds me. Why they didn't make Josh leave and keep him away from the girls I find heartbreaking. To know your parents knew and did nothing to protect you makes it worse.

 

 I don't hear many people express my first thought, which was to beat the holy shit out of that kid.

 

So many things I didn't understand makes sense now. Sleeping in regular clothes, not pajamas. No playing hide and seek? I wouldn't have made all those strange rules I would've removed the problem kid. 

[Oldernowiser]

How does a 12-year-old girl not know that someone putting his hands inside her underpants is bad touch? How does a grown woman believe her 12-year-old daughter if she tells her that? I think both statements are impossible to believe, and thus everything Michelle said became impossible to believe.

Why the hell didn't the girls' PARENTS teach them what being touched inappropriately is? Talk about as basic a failure as there can be...

But what haunts me is that I start to wonder if in their world, this might actually not be seen as anything important, because they're just girls and since their spiritual leader was such a fan of groping young girls, why would they teach them what boundaries should be?

Their surprise might be genuine, because it really does happen all the time in their circles?

[BitterApple]

I don't know that they're totally off the mark with the vendetta thing, though. Explicitly stating that a bribe may have been a factor is unwise, but there's a lot of people who have it in for this family. I don't think the Duggars should pay the Chief anything, especially considering it was her department that did such a piss-poor job of redacting the report.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Fox pre-dissed their own interview?

 

Not the interview itself but the Duggars handling of the whole mess.

[Albanyguy]

Fox pre-dissed their own interview?

 

 

They sure are. They must be feeling the backlash from their pro-Duggar stance.  The hosts this morning on Fox & Friends were still plugging tonight's Megyn Kelly installment for all it's worth and beating the "The police report shouldn't have been leaked!!" drum. But, like Dr. Keith Ablow yesterday, the guest panelists (including Geraldo Rivera) weren't playing along. They hit all the same points that were hit on CNN, Today and GMA: that Jim Bob & Michelle completely failed to protect their daughters; that the daughters are still being thrown under the bus to protect Josh; that Josh should be speaking for himself instead of hiding behind his parents and that the question of the legality of the leaked police report is a smokescreen.

 

OTOH, I just saw a clip of Megyn Kelly from her show last night and she seems to be becoming even more strident in her defense of the Duggars. She was demanding of one of her guests "How can you pick and choose what you're outraged by? How can you feel outrage over what Josh Duggar did to his sisters but not be outraged by what the media is now doing to them by publicizing the police report?". Ummm, actually, Megyn, it's pretty easy.

[GEML]

The thing is, I'm really not sure what they could say, not say, hide out, speak out - whatever, that would get the bulk of us who genuinely watched the show but weren't enthralled with the Duggars as a "ministry" to keep watching the show. It's just never going to be entertaining to me again.

That said, I think the daughters have every reason to fight for their spin offs or specials. I like money earned for what I'm trained to do. And if I didn't break any rules, I shouldn't like to be fired or have my workplace shut down because someone else did.

[HumblePi]

Oh, I don't even watch this mess and from all the comments about the last year or so of episodes, I think it was totally in the can that Jill and Jessa were going to be spun off into a show of their own, that's why it was the first thing floated in the wake of the InTouch exposure of the truth.  I think that explains the nostalgic mood of that Erica Hill interview episode as well, they were heading into big changes.  I don't think it was on their radar at all that this was going to come out, their shock and hubris about it is too raw, in my opinion.

 

I am however, incredibly curious about what back room deal was frantically penciled to get Josh to resign so quickly from the FRC.  That first "hint" article was put up by InTouch on the 19th (a Tuesday), we now know that their FOIA request was dated the 15th (the previous Friday), I'm assuming that InTouch had the report in hand before they posted up the "hint" article.

I think you're absolutely on target there with your thoughts about a new reality show spinoff starring Jessa or Jill or both of them together. I refuse to believe that the spinoff shows were only speculative on the part of TLC.  I believe, as you said, that the first few episodes may have already been filmed-'in the can'. I had a really difficult time watching the Erica Hill interview. It was just too nauseating the way she was indulging the Duggars. The Erica Hill special wasn't insightful in any way. Her interview didn't shed new light on anything and it didn't answer any questions. There was nothing discussed that hadn't already been talked about before. To my view it was nothing more than a 'fluff' interview, empty and pointless. This interview was most likely inspired by the fact that the spinoff shows were already in production and they want the public to ask to see more of the 'adorable' family of Jill and Derick, Jessa and Ben.

Edited June 5, 2015 by HumblePi

[NextIteration]

avoiding eye contact is one of the primary symptoms

 

...of autism spectrum disorders as well.  Not that it applies here at all, but body language professionals that ply their trade without knowing someone's history or knowing them on any kind of personal level based on a video, are pretty much full of shit.

[Kcat1971]

How does a 12-year-old girl not know that someone putting his hands inside her underpants is bad touch? How does a grown woman believe her 12-year-old daughter if she tells her that? I think both statements are impossible to believe, and thus everything Michelle said became impossible to believe. 

 

Well- there has not been a single narrative that claimed this happened to a 12 year old. This is the "problem" with a lot of the speculation about who & what happened.  According to the police report and according to the Duggar interview, there were 2 instances where under clothing touching happened. (Storytime & Laundry room- neither says inside underpants)  Both victims seem to be under 12.  

 

I'm not saying that the victims didn't know it was a bad touch.  And I'm not down-playing what happened.  But I think its important not to up-scale or embellish it either.  It's not fair to the victims to say a 12 year old was touch under her underpants if there is no support for that statement because it seems to be making the victims out to be liars.

[Cherrio]

You cannot compare a television show to a "normal" job. Television shows come and go with sometimes as little as we are done with you, bye.

        Even without this molestation news, the show seemed on its last legs.   Neither married young woman has much in the way of a personality to draw in and keep viewers.    Jill's vocab consists of So, yeah.    Jessa does have striking looks, but that is about it.

 

That said, I do not blame these young women for their shortcomings.  As far as I am concerned these severely troubled parents emotionally deprived all the children of a healthy and normal life.

Edited June 5, 2015 by aethera
minor edit for inflammatory language.

[HumblePi]

I've heard nothing from Jana at all. Was she shown during this MK/Fox interview?

I think the fact that Jana has been invisible speaks volumes. From the beginning, whenever I looked at Jana I sensed there was some pain hiding behind her forced smile. I don't think we'll hear or see anything of Jana unless she leaves the compound for good and writes a tell-all book.

 

I think Jessa and Jill are desperately trying to redeem at least their own images in order to be able to have their own series be part of the TLC programming lineup replacing 19 Kids and Counting. They claim they came forward to speak on camera because their identities had already been revealed in the press. But, they're wrong. The names of the victims were redacted in the reports seen online. No identities were revealed although you'd have to be living under a rock not to know who they were. The point is, they did the interview with Megyn for another reason. Obviously the other older girls remain silent, but these two have an agenda and that agenda is more than likely the salvation of their own television spinoff shows and a lot of money, more than Derick or Ben can possibly earn.

[Rancide]

What remains stunning to me is how little self-awareness the parents seem to have about their level of culpability in all of this.  There are a range of explanations for Josh's behavior all the way from "he's a child predator" down to "he's an average pubescent boy who is curious about girls' bodies and has been denied all normal outlets for satisfying his curiosity--and probably even denied the opportunity to learn that such curiosity is normal--so is turning to non-normal outlets."  

 

Either way, mom and dad are at fault here.  Either for failing to shield their female children from a sexual predator or for failing to provide their son normal, healthy outlets for learning what girls' bodies look like and/or opportunities to understand his own sexual development.

[BitterApple]

Consider it from a personal perspective. Your daughter is molested and someone in your community requests the report and puts it on social media. You and your husband's names are listed as parents of the victim, so everyone you know at your job, at church, in your community, the kids at your daughter's school find out she was sexually assaulted. You wouldn't feel your daughter's privacy was violated?

I'm not excusing Josh, but I don't think any parent would say oh well, that's how the FOIA goes, if it was their own child in this situation.

[Julia]

Why the hell didn't the girls' PARENTS teach them what being touched inappropriately is? 

 

I'd be interested to hear how you go about teaching modest dress standards to girls of any age without telling them that there are parts of the body it's not appropriate to share with the rest of the world, and particularly boys.

 

"How can you pick and choose what you're outraged by? How can you feel outrage over what Josh Duggar did to his sisters but not be outraged by what the media is now doing to them by publicizing the police report?". 

 

I'd also be interested to hear why she's not outraged about what Josh Duggar did to his sisters, and why she chose to be the representative of the media who's subjecting two heretofore unnamed victims to a highly-publicized television interview branded with her name.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Julia

[NextIteration]

If the Duggar parents hadn't pushed themselves into the national TV spotlight AFTER this police report was created - if they were just the neighbors down the street, albeit with a Dad who'd once held political office - I doubt that the mainstream media would have had any interest in the report. That it is of public interest, and that it's all too easy to figure out who four victims were? Is the Duggar parents' fault.

 

Anyone, ANYONE could have "tipped off" InTouch, most of the well informed folks in this group on PTV could have tipped off InTouch.  Josh's hubris in casting stones, along with Michelle's with that robo-call are likely reasons that somebody finally lost their minds and started pointing the media at the FreeJinger website and the "Alice" posts.  It was all there for anybody enterprising enough to contact all kinds of media outlets to get the truth of the family out.  Or maybe, it was a matter of critical mass - enough people were pissed and contacting media that one of them the sources (InTouch) finally sent out a FOIA.

 

It's beyond my understanding, how the Duggars managed to forget to cover the Sheriff's report when they went about getting records expunged.  Clearly - there was no PR Crisis team on board until it was too late on that as well.  Speaking of expunged records, is the Judge that's howling about the FOI release the same one that granted the record destruction in the first place?  Because she has close ties to Huckabee.

[Patrizio]

Well, when I read someone write that the girls should get their own show, I am sympathetic because they are the true victims in this terrible situation. But, this is a family who are in an insular cult which I believe may be partly to blame for Josh's behavior. If you're in a family business and it's revealed that it acted in an illegal, morally reprehensible manner; unfortunately you are painted with the same brush. There are so few taboos left in our society but I'd like to see child molestation or enabling it, something it continues to strongly condemn. I don't want to see these people on TV anymore, they remind me of how little women are valued,and how greed coupled with a thirst for fame, compels some to do anything to achieve it. I guess I wonder where is their shame in what they have done?

Edited June 5, 2015 by Patrizio

[JenCarroll]

Regarding Michelle's tears, or lack thereof, I don't think people are particularly upset with her for not crying -- it was the big display of wiping pretend tears and trying to act like she was crying that I found objectionable.

When she made her voice break, my dog's ears went back.

[Lemur]

My guess is that Boob will not sue. He'd be spending a good chunk of change with no assurance of a win. I think El Cheapo will end up re-thinking that tactic. Sounded good on TV though... 

 

Pardon my language, but this dumb **** couldn't or wouldn't even consult with a lawyer in regards to making sure those police reports regarding his children never saw the light of day.  He was either too stupid or too cheap then and I don't think either of those things has changed.    

[Patrizio]

I watched the interview, and thought that she might be on something-maybe Xanax> She just seemed a beat behind everything happening.

[HumblePi]

Not sure where this goes, topic-wise, but honestly, doesTLC really think they have any real show with just these two couples? They're not witty, they're not interesting...take away the freak show that is their family of origin and you've got two very young fundie couples having the occasional baby and maybe toting bibles to some exotic location. Yawn. Do they even have visits from the Duggar parents, because ick...

Not seeing the content.

Watching Derick and Ben trying to project personality and humor would be like watching ...... (crickets in the background)

[Lemur]

Consider it from a personal perspective. Your daughter is molested and someone in your community requests the report and puts it on social media. You and your husband's names are listed as parents of the victim, so everyone you know at your job, at church, in your community, the kids at your daughter's school find out she was sexually assaulted. You wouldn't feel your daughter's privacy was violated?

I'm not excusing Josh, but I don't think any parent would say oh well, that's how the FOIA goes, if it was their own child in this situation.

 

That situation isn't truly analogous.  Shield laws protecting the victims in these cases usually dictate that most of the personal information of the victims be redacted from FOIA requests.  In the case you detailed above, not only would the victim's name be redacted, but also the parents' names and address(es).  Keep in mind that Jim Bob and Michelle are the parents of both the perpetrator and the victims and that their primary residence was the scene of the crime.  This is one of those situations where figuring out what to redact is rather difficult as there is potential criminal activity on the part of not only Josh but his parents for failing to report.  And in Arkansas, their FOIA handbook seems to read that they err on the side of disclosure in these cases. 

Edited June 5, 2015 by Lemur

[JenCarroll]

I have no sympathy for the argument that the record shouldn't have been released; it had to be and was. Maybe Arkansas and other states might want to look into tightening their rules about document release, but that would be for the future. This is done.

However. Probably the redacted report should not have said they live with their parents, "Jim Bob and Michelle REDACTED." If you're leaving that in, why bother at all? I can see where that might come off as deliberate.

[Seashell Lover]

The Genie is out of the bottle.

And no you do not get 3 wishes.

[Julia]

Pardon my language, but this dumb **** couldn't or wouldn't even consult with a lawyer in regards to making sure those police reports regarding his children never saw the light of day.  He was either too stupid or too cheap then and I don't think either of those things has changed.    

 

I think if a judge who was an ally of my BFF the former governor/presidential candidate with a show on Fox took on themselves to handle that, I would have assumed it was handled too.

[yogi2014L]

Not the interview itself but the Duggars handling of the whole mess.

Did anyne watch the Kelly File last night? I only caught the beginning but she had one some guy with the last name "Zimmerman' who was a dirty liberal heathen ( LOL) and they had a really civil discussion about the Duggars and the interview and they showed clips from the interview that weren't shown on Wed. They also showed reactions from other news outlets. They came to the conclusion that both republicans and democrats hate child molesters.

 

 Megyn Kelly did give them enough rope to hang themselves and did not defend them really. I wouldn't say her stance was neutral, she seeemed to give an opinion without directly saying anything. It really peaked my interest in Friday.

 

I missed the end because I fell asleep but I think the whole ' was the report release legal' was discussed, did anyone see?

 

Also- one of the biggest things that pissed me off is that in the whole is Josh a pedophile- Jboob keeps saying ' he was 14 just turned 15'. LISTEN ASSHOLE- THAT MEANS HE IS 15!!!!!!!

UGH! He can't even be truthful about his sons freaking age. Jboob is a sneaky slimy creepazoid and I fear for all those poor kids left in that house.

Edited June 5, 2015 by yogi2014L

[ZoloftBlob]

Explicitly stating that a bribe may have been a factor is unwise, but there's a lot of people who have it in for this family.

 

There's wanting to knock the smug sanctimonous "We're right with Jesus and you're not" smirks off their faces, and then there's breaking the law. Accepting a BRIBE to release court documents purely to humilate the then child victims is a crime. Whne Jimbob and Michelle get on a national news show and openly muse that someone must have been bribed to release the report... thats a pretty bold statement. I don't know what the legalities of the release are... but I also notice that no one is actually doing anything about it (as yet)... other than making vague accusations about bribery and someone having an agenda.

[Lemur]

I think if a judge who was an ally of my BFF the former governor/presidential candidate with a show on Fox took on themselves to handle that, I would have assumed it was handled too.

 

My experience in local politics is that nothing is handled until it's handled cleanly and openly.  A court order, with full public notice, to have the report destroyed by an underage victim was all that was necessary.  The victims' names were never released.  No one would have been the wiser and this all would have been a deep, dark family secret and a rumor in a couple of corners of the internet.  

[HumblePi]

I'd be interested to hear how you go about teaching modest dress standards to girls of any age without telling them that there are parts of the body it's not appropriate to share with the rest of the world, and particularly boys.

 

This might be one of the 'safeguards' that Jim Bob was talking about for protecting the girls. Duggar bath?

[Julia]

My experience in local politics is that nothing is handled until it's handled cleanly and openly.  A court order, with full public notice, to have the report destroyed by an underage victim was all that was necessary.  The victims' names were never released.  No one would have been the wiser and this all would have been a deep, dark family secret and a rumor in a couple of corners of the internet.  

 

Well, yeah. But I can't see that the straight road was followed in any of this. Which, I agree, would have been the best protection for both Josh and the girls.

[Lemur]

I think Jessa and Jill are desperately trying to redeem at least their own images in order to be able to have their own series be part of the TLC programming lineup replacing 19 Kids and Counting. 

 

The strong, female, progressive part of me likes to think that they're not hiding from this aspect of the past and throwing off the "shield laws" as part of moving forward with their lives.  This is becoming more and more common with young women who are the survivors of sexual assaulted.  

 

And then the realistic part of me realizes that they just want a reality show because that means they will get to live in nice houses and go on neat vacations and random people they will never meet will send their multitudinous children presents. 

Edited June 5, 2015 by Lemur

[parisprincess]

That said, I think the daughters have every reason to fight for their spin offs or specials. I like money earned for what I'm trained to do. And if I didn't break any rules, I shouldn't like to be fired or have my workplace shut down because someone else did.

 

I'm curious as to what kind of training they had that qualified them for the big bucks they're all getting for appearing on a reality show.  TLC and the rest of their ilk just seek out people who have something different going on that will make people want to watch, and the further from the norm, the better.  I mean, look at the shows out there; My 600 pound Life, Hoarding, My Strange Addiction, etc.  Most of us don't have people like that in our regular lives, so its entertaining to watch things that are complete foreign to us and things that are surprising, shocking, and outrageous. 

[HumblePi]

I

 I don't hear many people express my first thought, which was to beat the holy shit out of that kid.

 

So many things I didn't understand makes sense now. Sleeping in regular clothes, not pajamas. No playing hide and seek? I wouldn't have made all those strange rules I would've removed the problem kid. 

I posted something to that effect yesterday. When Josh went to his parents to 'lighten his heart'. Their reaction was "we must have failed as parents". But as I said, if that was my child I would have smacked him silly first then told him he was wrong, then sent him away for a year to 'heal his heart'. :)

[WhineandCheez]

I think SNL is in summer repeats now, but I bet they would have contacted Dana Carvey and asked him to open the show doing a Duggar interview.  What a missed opportunity.

Except that the Duggars wouldn't have any idea who the Church Lady was. Not that they'd see the show anyway.

 

The Duggars think "SNL" stands for Sodomizing Non-Christian Lesbians.

[Lemur]

But as I said, if that was my child I would have smacked him silly first then told him he was wrong, then sent him away for a year to 'heal his heart'. :)

 

Does anyone here honestly think Michelle didn't take a switch or a rod to Josh when he "lightened his heart" (insert eyeroll)?  Hell, I'm sure she took a switch to him after the news broke, and if he hasn't made it into close proximity to her since, she's planning on it.  And I'm talking a full-on, Mommy Dearest, NO MORE WIRE HANGERS EVER! switching.

[BitterApple]

I don't think this is a situation where the public "has the right to know." Josh was a juvenile who was never formally charged and there's no evidence he's still offending. Many people disagree with the Duggars' political and religious views, but nobody is being forced to watch them.

[Maizie131]

Fox News Channel:  “Fair and balanced.”
Megyn Kelly:  Fair!
Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar:  Unbalanced! 

And this may be precisely what Fox was thinking when they reached out to the Duggars for the interview.  As I said in an earlier post, I think Megyn did a great job with what she had to work with.  Many people are upset because she didn’t ask the myriad of questions we’ve all wanted answers to since the scandal broke, but c’mon people – they only had a one-hour timeslot (plus one more tonight).  That would take countless hours, and odds are still 100% that we will never ever know what happened in that house, the “aftermath,” etc.  ….and we certainly aren’t going to hear any astounding revelations during tonight’s interview, either.  (Well, not any we’ll actually believe, anyhow.)

 

As many others have said, the Duggars – all of them – just need to go away & keep quiet for a very long time.  Ya know – like Casey Anthony!  Ha!  (Altho did I read somewhere that the paparazzi spotted her recently at a NY airport?!?)

[Skittl1321]

I don't think this is a situation where the public "has the right to know." Josh was a juvenile who was never formally charged and there's no evidence he's still offending. Many people disagree with the Duggars' political and religious views, but nobody is being forced to watch them.

The police report was not created when Josh was a juvenile.  It is my understanding that is the dividing line. 

If the Duggars had done the responsible thing and reported when the incidents first happened (and Josh was tried in juvenile courts? I'm unsure if this also was required; if he had been tried as a juvenile it would have been sealed for SURE), it could not have been released.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Skittl1321

[Oldernowiser]

But it cuts both ways...nobody forced the Duggars to sign up for a reality show, let alone one that was specifically focused on how neat, precious, Godly, and perfect their family is, despite all logical expectations to the contrary. Once you put yourselves out there as the greatest parents ever and are getting paid royally for it, evidence to the contrary, let alone something this serious, stops being a private family matter.

These people had a funeral for a miscarriage on national television. They only care about privacy when they look bad.

[Lemur]

I don't think this is a situation where the public "has the right to know." Josh was a juvenile who was never formally charged and there's no evidence he's still offending. Many people disagree with the Duggars' political and religious views, but nobody is being forced to watch them.

 

There's no evidence that most of the registered sex offenders on mandatory reporting lists are still offending either, but yet they still have to register.  85-90%, as per Megyn Kelly herself.  

[NextIteration]

As I said in an earlier post, I think Megyn did a great job with what she had to work with.  Many people are upset because she didn’t ask the myriad of questions we’ve all wanted answers to since the scandal broke, but c’mon people – they only had a one-hour timeslot (plus one more tonight).  That would take countless hours

 

I'm not seeing a lot of criticism of Kelly beyond her bad weave.  Did I miss something?  (Lots of criticism of the Duggar parents, but not Kelly.)

[Lemur]

If the Duggars had done the responsible thing and reported when the incidents first happened (and Josh was tried in juvenile courts? I'm unsure if this also was required; if he had been tried as a juvenile it would have been sealed for SURE), it could not have been released.

 

That depends.  At least 37 states require juvenile sex offenders to register as such on the state registry (I've read 40 states as well, but a couple seem to have repealed or restated this law as a good bit of the thinking and experience around it is that it's counterproductive to rehabilitation).  Based on prior research, a special hearing in juvenile court is required for a juvenile to be placed on the lifetime mandatory reporting list in Arkansas meaning that the prosecutor would have to make a motion to have him added.  At the very least, Josh would have been removed from the home, most likely for at least a year maybe until he was 18.

[MichaelaRae]

And if I didn't break any rules, I shouldn't like to be fired or have my workplace shut down because someone else did.

 

But even outside of reality TV, this simply isn't the way the world works. If the CEOs of the company I work for screw up to the point of the company shutting down - by financial malfeasance, by disregarding OSHA laws, by wildly mismanaging public relations and making it so customers no longer want to buy my product - my workplace is shut down and I no longer have a job. It's not fair and it sucks, but that's the way the world works. Even if I did everything properly. Hell, even if I was the whistleblower that reported the violations; if the company shuts down, I no longer have a job. That may be what happens to the "employment" of Jill and Jessa due to the management practices of their "company's" "executive team."

Edited June 5, 2015 by MichaelaRae

[CofCinci]

I watched the interview, and thought that she might be on something-maybe Xanax> She just seemed a beat behind everything happening.

She's been on a benzo diet since her first break down in the laundry room.

As previous posters pointed out, the police report was not a sealed record, and therefore it was not illegal to release it as long as the names of any underage subjects were redacted, which they were in this case. The Duggars have no legal case.

And, Josh was an adult when the report was finally taken.

[Skittl1321]

That depends.  At least 37 states require juvenile sex offenders to register as such on the state registry (I've read 40 states as well, but a couple seem to have repealed or restated this law as a good bit of the thinking and experience around it is that it's counterproductive to rehabilitation).  Based on prior research, a special hearing in juvenile court is required for a juvenile to be placed on the lifetime mandatory reporting list in Arkansas meaning that the prosecutor would have to make a motion to have him added.  At the very least, Josh would have been removed from the home, most likely for at least a year maybe until he was 18.

But even if he was registered as a sex offender, I believe the record is sealed. So his victims would have been protected.

 

Basically, IMO, this is another instance of the parents protecting Josh over his sisters.  If Josh had been punished by the law, his sisters' names would have been safe.

There's no evidence that most of the registered sex offenders on mandatory reporting lists are still offending either, but yet they still have to register.  85-90%, as per Megyn Kelly herself.  

No, the number Megyn quote was a percentage ARRESTED again.  There is no statistic available about those still offending.

 

Keep in mind, Josh was never arrested/charged for this at all. So you'd have to think quite a few other offenders are never arrested/charged either -ever- or on the repeat incidents after the first charge.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Skittl1321

[Churchhoney]

Yes!! This!  Well said.  This is what their PR person should have advised them.  

 

I know there's been a lot of criticism the first young PR guy they contacted for blabbing. But given what he blabbed I'm pretty sure he told them just this. And then they told him to take a hike.

[HumblePi]

The Duggar's have done the ultimate injustice to all 19 of their children by preventing them from moving out into the world into careers or any normal job. Other than being a midwife if your female, or being a minister, politician or used car salesman if you're male, what are they supposed to do to earn a living and support a family? This is 2015 guys, you can't raise 19 children responsibly if you're incapable of providing them with the education they'll need to create their own lives and careers after they leave the control of their childhood environment. This is why Jill and Jessa are freaking out that their spinoff shows will be cancelled. Derick is a Walmart accountant so at least he has a job that brings in a paycheck. And Ben....well, nobody really knows what Ben actually does. Jessa was in Savannah, Georgia in March to speak at an event there and Ben came along. Someone in the audience asked Ben what he does (for a living) and Ben said ‘Do you mean for work?’ and she said yes,” “Then he mumbled some stuff about working for Jim Bob before saying he was, of course, touring with Jessa right now because he didn’t want to send her off alone by herself.” So, bottom line, he has no real job.

 

By the way, Derick Dillard was missing from the Erica Hill family interview and the official reason according to Hill was that he was 'recovering from surgery'. Well the surgery happened to be oral surgery to remove some teeth, he then had expensive ceramic braces put on his teeth to straighten them out.  Keeping up with the mansion's bills can be a strain for a Walmart accountant's budget. Jill's TLC checks would have been a tremendous help. We shouldn't be surprised that Jill and Jessa will be pulling out every maneuver in the book to turn the tide of public opinion in their favor in order for TLC to want to continue plans for their spinoffs.

[CherryAmes]

Many people disagree with the Duggars' political and religious views, but nobody is being forced to watch them.

 

I think a lot of the people angry about this situation are not watchers of their show.  What has angered people is the blatant hypocrisy of the Duggars who have entered the political arena trying to effect changes to laws based on their own version of morality when as the saying goes they needed to put their own house in order first.  There would have been a lot more sympathy for the Duggar parents, even if we didn't agree with how they handled things, had they not proceeded to spend the last 12 years telling the world how they should be living and specifically most recently accusing an entire subsection of humanity (the gay community) of being potential molesters and abusers of children.

Edited June 5, 2015 by CherryAmes

[DkNNy79]

I didn't watch the interview (I can't stand the thought of watching anything on Fox News) and I don't watch 19 Kids and Counting, but are aware of them because I do see the commercials for their show (while I watch the Little Couple).

 

Everyone has already made the obvious points about the parents protecting Josh above their girls.  It just blows my mind that there are women in the US in this day and age who still believe that we have to be subservient to men.  Boggles the mind.  As an adult if you make that decision, whatever, to each their own.  I just don't agree with raising your children that way.  That girls do not hold as much value as boys.

 

As everyone else has stated, once you open yourself up to live in the spotlight by choosing to be on a reality show, you open yourself up to media scrutiny.

 

I sympathize with the girls over what they've had to endure.  I don't sympathize with them about them losing their show/possibility of a show.  That's the real world, nothing is guaranteed forever.  Use whatever money you have and get a skill/education or make sure your husband has one if you're going the stay at home mom route.