Members of the Duggar family from "19 Kids and Counting" finally broken their silence on Josh Duggar's child molestation accusations on Wednesday, with two of Josh's victims – his sisters Jill and Jessa – tearfully speaking out: "They [the people who exposed the scandal] don't have a right to do this."
The two sisters spoke with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during "The Kelly File" on Wednesday and shared their heartbreak when the past they preferred to be kept locked up was brought to light by InTouch Magazine.
"We're victims. They can't do this to us," Jill said.
Her younger sister Jessa was calmer during the interview and added: "The system that was set up to protect kids – both those who have made super mistakes or have problems like this in their lives and the ones that are affected by those choices... It's greatly failed."
Jill has just given birth to her firstborn son Israel David with husband Derick Dillard, while Jessa is pregnant with her first child with husband Ben Seewald when the news broke out.
Their parents Jim Bob and Michelle, meanwhile, spoke in a separate interview with Kelly and admitted that their son violated God's principles by doing "some improper touching." It was terrible and inexcusable, they agreed, but that does not mean it was unforgivable.
Jim Bob also clarified that a paedophile is "an adult who preys on children," while Josh was a 14-year-old boy when he preyed on children. He believes that the release of those records was an "unprecedented attack" on his family. He said he does not understand why the press is crucifying them instead of those who "illegally" released the juvenile records.
"Hopefully justice will be served on the ones who released juvenile records," he said, adding that he does not wish the same thing to happen to other children.
At the same time, he said the Duggar family is perfectly fine whether their show will continue or not. What's important to them is that they continue on with their lives, and they hope that the past actions taken by Josh will not affect any of the other Duggars.
"I don't know if the rest of our family should be punished for the act of one of our children," he said.
