The Duggar family seems to be melting down.
Less than one week after Josh Duggar was convicted in his chid pornography case, “19 Kids and Counting” patriarch Jim Bob Duggar lost his bid on Tuesday – by a landslide – for a seat on the Arkansas state senate. Just 356 people, about 15 percent of voters, cast their ballot for 56-year old Republican father of 19, a Christian evangelical.
It may not have helped that his estranged son-in-law, Derick Dillard, came clean about dear-old-dad-in-law.
“I used to have much respect for Jim Bob, as my father-in-law, and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt for years,” Dillard wrote on Facebook, also on Tuesday, as Us Weekly reports. “Unfortunately, it’s only become clearer to us over time just how deep this man’s manipulation and deceit will go for his own gain, at the expense of others.”
“He has lied to my wife and I numerous times,” wrote Dillard, who is married to Jill Duggar.
It gets worse.
The 19 Kids and Counting alum alleged that Jim Bob is “defensive and verbally abusive” when confronted privately about his behavior, adding, “When he says he cannot be bought, the truth is that he has a history of being a sellout to anything that he can personally profit from, and he will justify it however he wants to continue his personal agenda.”
If all that weren’t enough, Jana Duggar opened up about her being charged with child endangerment.
“I’m only sharing this because the media has been having a field day with it all,” Duggar wrote in an Instagram Story, as Page Six reports “I prefer a more private life, but I know my last name means that everything we do is open to public criticism and interest, especially during this time.”
She claims that the “raw facts” of the case are that she “was babysitting a few months ago when one of the children wandered outside alone. A passerby who saw the child called the police. This resulted in a written citation, as well as a follow-up with child welfare who concluded that it was an accident and the child was unharmed.”
“They recognized it was a case of a child slipping out of the house when you turn your back for a moment. It all happened so quickly and was scary. I am grateful for law enforcement and those who protect and serve our community.”
Jessa Seewald, Jana’s younger sister, tried to defend her, writing that she was “babysitting and one of the kids slipped out the door unnoticed, but it ended safely. Could’ve happened to anyone.”