Josh Duggar’s family stood behind him back in 2015 after it was exposed that he had molested some of his sisters and another young girl. They continued to support him several months later when yet another scandal broke, and he admitted to being unfaithful to his wife Anna. However, Josh’s latest scandal and arrest for receiving and possessing child p0rnographic material has reportedly caused some of his family members to want to cut ties with him for good.
Josh was released from Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last week, after the shocking details of his alleged crimes were made public during his bond hearing. According to People, Josh’s sister Jinger Vuolo and her husband Jeremy are having a difficult time coping with the latest news.
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Jinger was the first of Josh’s siblings to release a public statement following his arrest. Behind the scenes, though, the crimes Josh is accused of are reportedly taking a great emotional toll on the Vuolos.
A source for People, which had long been the Duggar Family’s go-to media outlet, told the magazine that Jinger and Jeremy are “horrified and disgusted by the situation.”
Hearing that Josh is accused of downloading and possessing dozens of child sex abuse images, as well as videos, has been especially hard for Jinger, the source told People.
“Being a family themselves, the idea of these kinds of charges against Josh are a horrific thing. Jinger is having a hard time coping with it.”
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It’s a sentiment seemingly shared by Jinger’s sister Joy Forsyth and her husband Austin, as well as Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald, the magazine states. All four sisters have released statements on Josh’s alleged crimes, with the Vuolos’ and Forsyths’ statements being especially critical of Josh.
Jinger and Jeremy’s statement made it clear that they hope Josh gets locked up, should the charges against him prove to be true.
“We are disturbed to hear of the charges against Josh,” the Vuolos’ statement reads. “While this case must go through the legal system, we absolutely condemn any form of child abuse and fully support the authorities and judicial process in their pursuit of justice.”
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Sadly, Joy, Jinger, Jessa and Jill are former victims of Josh’s. All four Duggar girls were exposed in 2015 as the siblings that Josh molested when he was a teenager.
The source added that Jinger and Jeremy have “… built their own life in a new city that they love and are surrounded by people who support them. It’s taken an emotional toll on them, but they are raising their daughters and are focused on their life in L.A.”
While Josh is not allowed to see his underage siblings, nieces and nephews, or any other minor children, he can still have “unlimited contact” with his own six children. A judge ruled last week that Anna must be present when Josh is spending time with his three daughters and three sons. (Anna is currently pregnant with their seventh child.)
While he is currently out of prison, his pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 1 with the actual trial itself beginning on July 6. If convicted, Josh could be facing over 40 years in prison.
Jeremy and Jinger unfortunately chose last week to release their memoir, The Hope We Hold.
The couple’s long-awaited book release has been somewhat overshadowed by Josh’s arrest and court appearances. They have continued to promote their book on social media, deleting comments on Instagram that mention Josh or his alleged crimes.
RELATED STORY: Jinger Vuolo Claims Sister Jana Duggar Has Turned Down Multiple Suitors, Including Prisoners & Strangers Offering Gifts & Trips
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
13 Responses
These girls never got the help they so desperately needed when this happened to them as children. I’m sure this is bringing up a lot of emotions that she never dealt with in the aftermath of the abuse. I can only guess that Jinger, now that she’s independent from her family and lives in a new state, and has children of her own, is now coming to terms with what really happened and that her parents did nothing to stop it. I really hope these girls get professional help. Jim Bob and Michelle need to be locked up with Josh.
Yes, agreed. It’s sad they put Josh in front of their daughters. I can’t believe the wife got pregnant after his work got raided two years ago. What the heck is wrong with the parents and wife?!
It’s most likely that Anna is experiencing marital r*pe, among other things. She’s been taught her whole life to be joyfully available no matter what. She’s absolutely a victim in this as well.
I agree, the women are taught to just be submissive to their husbands. Very sad situation for all involved.
I think we should all stop calling it “child p0rn”. Porn is made by adults sex workers only.
I know it’s seems a detail, but it’s argument use by the fundies to minimize the crime (Jessa said “we are against all form of pornography”).
What Josh had in his computer isn’t a sort of pornography, it’s children sexual abuse/torture!!!
It’s a real crime, not just a little moral vice.
Your so right it’s not porn at all it’s sexual abuse on children of the sickest
The Duggars clearly believe and/or are brainwashed to believe that the wife/women/children must submit to the father/head of household, etc. I’m sure they )the parents) see nothing wrong With what Josh did as it is just part of their submission. Obviously the little kids in his downloaded videos must submit the the male authority. They are disgusting and vile people. The children should be removed from the home and given a chance at a normal life. There is nothing wrong with reading the Bible, going to church, etc but they’re taking it too far and horribly mis-reading the word of God. I seriously don’t think God approves of what they’re doing.
You’ve got to be kidding me! A judge let that monster OUT?! What kind of sense and competence must that judge be lacking to let that pedo out around kids supervised or not? If anything this serves to show us he might actually be able to get away with this even though we all know he’s 100% guilty and even more so depraved.
I am so sorry that the Duggar sisters are having to go through this. (Of course my first prayers are for all of the abused children of this world. I wish we could catch and remove all of the evil perpetrators.). If I were the kids in this family, I would be DONE with the parents. They didn’t protect their children or their grandchildren from a known predator. They protected and enabled the predator! They also ripped off all their kids, not giving them any of the TLC money! The Duggar parents deserve to have their “brand” blasted to smithereens!
I agree with you. Jimbob and Michelle are beyond redemption after throwing their daughters to the wolves to support the predator that abused them. It’s very strange that they have chosen to back their son over their daughters and his other victims – including the children in the videos – do they not think child abuse is a big deal or something? Is it ok with God to do those things to your sisters and other children? I just don’t understand how they reconcile this, or perhaps they misunderstood the term ‘suffer the little children’. I guess because he’s first born and, most importantly, a male, he gets to do as he pleases, even when it’s against the law and causing untold harm to others. Do they think it’s accidental? Or something that can be cured? HOW could they have him on their land and around the kids in their family after what came out in 2015? It’s really terrible to keep enabling such evil. I hope the sisters disown their parents if they remain in contact with him.
Pretty close. There are certain strains of puritanical Christianity that explicitly reject the idea of different gradations of sexual sin. So while they’d insist they consider child sexual abuse to be a very big deal, they also consider every other sexual sin to be just as bad. So seeing a provocative Vogue cover and being turned on is just as bad as cheating on your wife with a prostitute, which is just as bad as raping your underage sister. It’s pretty messed up.
They value their sons way more than they do their daughters. Daughters are only for taking care of the household, they are not allowed to think for themselves in any way. They can’t go to college or have jobs. Dad picks their boyfriends and then supervises their every move as a couple until the day they get married. The girls can’t even cut their own hair because “daddy likes long hair”. They are to be subservient to their brothers, as well. Daughters are property to them, while sons are prized and allowed to help Dad make decisions, even above their mother.
This. Basically the same thing I came here to say.