“We did the best we could under the circumstances,” embattled “19 Kids and Counting” stars tell Fox News’ Megyn Kelly
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are defending their handling of eldest son Josh’s molestation of five underage girls, including four of their daughters.
In an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on “The Kelly File” Wednesday, the reality TV stars went into great detail about what exactly happened 12 years ago when Josh, the eldest son of the “19 Kids and Counting” clan, confessed to having touched some of his younger sisters inappropriately.
“There were a couple of times he came and told us what he had done,” Jim Bob Duggar told Kelly of how the found out about Josh’s actions. “Again this was not rape or anything like that, it was touching someone over the clothes. there were a couple of times he touched someone under the clothes, for a few seconds. Each time he came and told us crying. It was the third time that we decided we needed help.”
“I think as parents we felt, ‘We’re failures,‘” Michelle Duggar told Kelly in a previously released clip. “You know, here we tried to raise our kids to do what’s right, to know what’s right, and yet one of our children made really bad choices. And I think, as a parent, we were devastated.”
The duo, prompted by Kelly, also spent a great deal of time blaming the tabloids for spreading the story around, as well as the way Josh’s sealed juvenile records detailing his actions were released illegally. The Duggars also blamed the tabloid media for re-victimizing their daughters.
“They’ve been victimized more by what’s happened in these past few weeks than they were 12 years ago,” Michelle said, who cited the fact that most of the inappropriate touching occurred when they were asleep and they never fully understood what was happening.
The interview also featured Jill and Jessa Duggar, two of the five victims alleged to have been molested by Josh, speaking out for the first time. Jill and Jessa’s interview is scheduled to air on Fox News on Friday.
TLC has pulled all currently airing episodes of “19 Kids and Counting” from the air, but has not yet outright canceled the show. Advertisers including Walgreens, Payless and Choice Hotels have already pulled out of airing spots during the show.