Jill Duggar and her sister Jessa opened up about their brother Josh Duggar molesting them and said they forgave their brother years ago.
Jessa admitted she wanted “to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a rapist or child molester.” She added, “Josh was a boy, a young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls. And that got him into some trouble. And he made some bad choices, but, really, the extent of it was mild – inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while [the] girls were sleeping.”
Jill added that none of the victims knew they had been molested by Josh until he confessed.
“We realized it was serious, but it wasn’t like a horror story,” said Jessa, adding, “Looking back as an adult, my parents handled it very well.”
“Josh made some very bad decisions, and he is going to suffer the consequences of those decisions,” said Jill, admitting that she and Jessa forgave their brother many years ago.
Jessa also said her brother was a completely different person when he returned home. Both girls did admit their parents used “safeguards” in the home.
“My parents said, ‘OK, we’re not going to do this hide-and-seek thing where two people go off and hide together,” said Jill. She also revealed their parents put locks on the kids’ bedroom doors to keep the “girls in the girls’ room [and] the boys in the boys’ room.”
The two sisters also discussed the possibility of the family’s show.
“This show has always been a window of opportunity that God allowed for us,” noted Jill, as her sister added, “If it ends life will go on.”