Megyn Kelly Interview with the Duggars: More Questions Than Answers

(Photo credit: Fox News)

Last night, I and millions of others, tuned in to watch the interview Megyn Kelly  conducted with the Duggars.  I watched and listened very carefully to everything they said and I still have some questions.

My initial impression is that the Duggars had been coached by a lawyer.  I found it interesting that Michelle and Jim Bob constantly looked at one another throughout the interview before answering the questions.  It was very uncomfortable to watch; however, I did, because as a clinically trained therapist and a talk show host that happens to be a Christian, I felt a need to watch so I could comment appropriately on what was said.

The parents claimed that Josh came to them and confessed his sin of touching the girls.  The parents also said that Josh’s reason for touching the girls was because he was “curious” about girls.  This raises a question: If Josh felt safe enough to confess his sin of touching the girls, but didn’t feel safe enough to go to his parents to ask questions about girls, if he had them, then why is that?  I find it very odd and just hard to believe that all this happened the way that they say it did.

Also, in a newly published police report, it is very clear that what Josh did was premeditated.  The report revealed that Josh had been sneaking into the bedroom at night and touching the breasts and the vaginas of the girls.  Why didn’t Josh just go to Jim Bob and ask him about girls?  Why did Josh feel the need to violate his sisters and do it in secret and at night?

Obviously, Josh didn’t feel safe enough with his parents to go to them BEFORE he committed these crimes and damaged his sisters and the other victims forever. Why?

The other thing the police report reveals is that in one of the incidents Josh put his hand under his victim’s dress.  I have to say that predators do that — not someone who is just curious about girls.  The normal guy who is just curious about girls will talk to his teenage friends about them and then try to get some pornography or something like that; which leads me to speculate that there is something that the public does not know, but I think many of us suspect.

Jim Bob also completely minimized Josh’s touching of his daughters, emphasizing that it was just over the clothes and that the girls didn’t know what had happened or why it was bad.  In talking to friends who have had similar situations in their families, Jim Bob basically said that what Josh did wasn’t as bad as what other families had experienced.  I’d like to know how bad it would’ve had to have been for Jim Bob to feel that it was bad.

Then the revelation of who the victims are: Josh’s sisters, and them speaking out about it.  I found it odd that Jim Bob implied more than once that his daughters weren’t all that abused and it wasn’t that big of a deal. So then, why are the victims all outraged at everything coming out?  I find that very odd.  Speaking as a survivor of well over a decade of sexual abuse myself, I can tell you that I would have been thrilled beyond words if my perpetrator’s crimes had been revealed to the world.  The more people who know about the crimes, the better!

I think the Duggars need to get their house in order and that TLC needs to cancel their program.  This family needs time to heal properly and if there were other crimes committed, they need to be investigated and dealt with. I recently asked Brannon Howse from Worldview Weekend his thoughts on the Duggar scandal and here’s what he said:

I felt the Duggars should have cancelled their show so they would not be a poor witness as they are now. But cover up is not what I favor.  They did NOT take their son and make a police report. They took him to a state trooper that was a friend of Jim Bobs and no police report was made at that time. That was wrong.

Ultimately, I feel that the interview raised more questions rather than it provided answers: How was a Freedom of Information Act request approved for records that were sealed, since it was a juvenile that committed the crimes?  I’d like to hear a lawyer answer that question. I also think the girls were victimized more than what is being revealed.  I support a full investigation on the whole Duggar family, especially Jim Bob and Josh.