Following Intouch Weekly's leak of a 2006 police report, the fate of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting hangs in the balance. Case No. 200603663, from Washington County Sheriff's office details Josh Duggar's molestation of five girls, all of whom were minors at the time, four of which are his sisters. The said police report was confirmed by Josh Duggar himself after his exclusive statement to PEOPLE.com. "Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends." Josh, now 27, apologized after admitting to what he did when he was 15 years old.
In the same interview, the eldest of the Duggar children said, "I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation." The Duggar parents, Jim Bob Duggar, the father, and Michelle Duggar, the mother, in a recent interview with Fox News, admitted to receiving Josh's confession, 12 years ago, about the molestation. Both the parents came to their son's defense regarding the issue. "There's young people that make mistakes; involved in alcohol and drugs and different things in their youth, and then they get treatment, they get therapy and they go on to become very great people," said Jim Bob after describing how his son has moved on after several incidents of molestation which took place from 2002-2003.
Jill and Jessa, Josh Duggar's sisters who were also part of the five molested girls 12 years ago, spoke up in another interview with Fox News. "What Josh did was very wrong," said Jessa in response when asked if they feel like victims after what happened. However, the sisters went to their brother's defense and Jessa said, "I want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him child molester or pedohile or rapist. That is so overboard and a lie."
In response to the news, Walgreens, Pizza Hut General Mills and several other of the show's sponsors have pulled out their ads. Hulu also took action and removed all the show's episodes from its catalog. TLC has temporarily pulled the show and all of its reruns, which were already scheduled to air. The network is still considering a proper response and the path the show will take after the incident.
