Jill and Jessa Duggar to Confirm to Megyn Kelly That Josh Molested Them
19 Kids and Counting stars Jill and Jessa Duggar, ages 24 and 22, would have been 11 and 10 when their older brother Josh molested them in 2002. They confirmed they were among the victims when they joined their parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, Wednesday for an interview with Fox’s Megyn Kelly.
Us Weekly confirmed the girls were part of the interview, which airs at 9 p.m. central. It had previously been reported that four of the girls Josh Duggar touched were his sisters, and that his oldest sister, Jana, was not a victim. (The fifth girl was reportedly a family friend.)
Jessa’s father-in-law, Michael Seewald, wrote a lengthy blog post last month in support of the man who molested his son’s wife as a teen:
In the end Josh sought forgiveness from those he wronged, repented of his sins, and came to trust Christ as his Savior. He has to the present day attested to the reality of his repentance and faith by living above reproach. In their efforts to salvage the wreckage that these transgressions brought, and bring healing to all involved, Jim Bob and Michelle are to be commended.
Earlier in the day, Fox was advertising the Kelly File interview as just a sit-down with Jim Bob and Michelle. Kelly promised to ask for “a first-person account of what Josh did, who was involved, what the parents did about it, how they satisfied themselves that it had been resolved, what they did to help the victims, and to answer some of the harder questions about whether they behaved hypocritically,” but she also told People that “what Josh did” wouldn’t include any details of the molestation because “I’ve been told I’m not going to get answers there.”
The interview will be the Duggar family’s first public statement since the allegations against Josh became public and he confessed that “twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends.”
[Photo via Instagram]