Josh Duggar’s Dad Reportedly Turned Him In To Cops In Sex Abuse Investigation When He Was 17

When he was a minor, Josh Duggar was reportedly the “alleged offender” in a sex abuse incident – and his dad turned him over to police, according to reports.

Jim Bob Duggar, the head of the TLC reality TV show Duggar family from “19 Kids and Counting,” according to reports, turned his 17-year old son Josh Duggar over to police in a case involving another minor, unnamed, and “inappropriate touching.”

The case was never prosecuted, and the state trooper who took the original report himself did not follow up and is now in prison on a 56-year sentence for child pornography.

In Touch magazine broke the story, reporting exclusively Josh Duggar “was named in a police report as the ‘alleged offender’ in an underage sexual abuse probe.”

While never brought to trial, the “charge being pursued while Josh was a minor was sexual assault in the fourth degree, multiple sources who have seen the police report and are familiar with the case told In Touch,” the magazine reports. “According to the report, Josh was brought into the Arkansas State Police by his father, Jim Bob, who said he caught him leaving a young girl’s bedroom and ‘learned something inappropriate happened,’ one source said.”

The case had gone inactive, apparently thanks to the state trooper’s own legal problems, and when it was picked up again the statute of limitations had expired. 

“A technicality prevented any further action,” a source familiar with the case told In Touch. “That’s been the biggest regret in all of this.”

“I saw and read the report and it clearly stated that Jim Bob brought his son Josh into the Arkansas State Police and spoke to a state trooper about Josh’s involvement in alleged inappropriate touching with a minor,” one source told In Touch.

Josh Duggar of course, as our legal system demands, is innocent until proven guilty.

In addition to his role in the long-running and highly-popular reality TV show, Josh Duggar is married and has three children. He is the executive director for Family Research Council Action, the political arm of the anti-gay hate group Family Research Council.

The Daily Mail reports that TLC and FRC “did not respond to a request for comment.”

UPDATE:
Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon reminds readers to “keep the schadenfreude in check for a minute,” and that this is “a story with nothing in it to feel good about.”

I’d add that there is an unnamed party in this story and hopefully she’s protected and well-cared for.

 

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