Duggar Family Abandons Son Josh Duggar In Illinois
Pictures of Josh Duggar sighted in Illinois have been released, while the Duggar family has refused to visit the disgraced Duggar since the family plane flew the eldest son to Rockford, Illinois, on August 24.
The Duggar family airplane, piloted by second-eldest son John David Duggar, dropped Josh off in Rockford just after midnight in the wee hours of August 25, after a one-and-a-half-hour flight. Josh is currently living at Reformers Unanimous, a boarding facility mostly for drug addicts and alcoholics who wish to turn their lives around. There are no doctors there and no psychiatrists to give professional assistance. Boarders quit cold turkey, while donating 40 – 50 hours a week in unpaid, supervised work, in what the school labels a “work therapy program.” In addition, every addict is required to participate in Bible studies for 34 hours each week. The school calls itself an “addiction recovery program”, not a rehab.
Josh Duggar and his fellow participants are enrolled in the program called Men’s School of Discipleship. All are there voluntarily and may leave at any time. However, while there, they must obey the rules of the program, which severely restricts their behavior, phone calls, and visits. Completion of the school’s program takes a minimum of six months, and the cost is $7,500.
Pictures that appear to be of Josh Duggar were uploaded to the Reformers Unanimous Men’s School of Discipleship Facebook page on September 19. The photos show the men’s group playing a softball game.
The Duggar family website posted a statement on August 26, condemning Josh for insulting the family’s values and faith.
“We are so thankful for the outpouring of love, care and prayers for our family during this most difficult situation with Josh. As parents we are so deeply grieved by our son’s decisions and actions. His wrong choices have deeply hurt his precious wife and children and have negatively affected so many others. He has also brought great insult to the values and faith we hold dear.
“Yesterday Josh checked himself into a long-term treatment center. For him it will be a long journey toward wholeness and recovery. We pray that in this he comes to complete repentance and sincere change. In the meantime, we will be offering our love, care, and devoted support to Anna and our grandchildren as she also receives counsel and help for her own heart and future.”
On that same day, InTouch magazine carried an interview with Danica Dillon, a bisexual porn star who claimed, under a lie-detector test, that she was paid to have unprotected sex twice with Josh Duggar, while his wife was pregnant with the couple’s fourth child.
The next day, on August 27, ET filed a report releasing statements from two unidentified Duggar family members, expressing their anger at Josh.
“We are all shocked and broken and furious. Who did we spend Christmases with? Who have we grown up with? Who is this person? This is supposed to be a happy time, and there is a dark cloud over our family.”
“Josh was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and I hope he gets broken in rehab and gets the help he needs.”
Under the terms of the men’s school Josh is attending, he was allowed his first visits from Duggar family members on October 9, and weekend visits away from campus after October 24. But neither of the Duggar family’s two aircraft have registered a flight plan anywhere near Illinois since Josh was dropped off there. It appears that the “love, care, and devoted support” the Duggar family stated that it was offering to Josh’s wife, Anna, is not being offered to Josh. In fact, no one in the family has even mentioned his name publicly, except in condemnation or in derision.
While the Duggar family continues to post pictures of Josh’s children to social media accounts, Josh cannot view them because he is not allowed access to computers or to smart phones. Josh has not seen his four children in 12 weeks, which must be even more difficult for the children than it is for him. His children are all under the age of six-years-old and have never been away from their father.
At the Friday evening service that Men’s School of Discipleship students are required to attend, the preacher read out prayer requests made by those in attendance on October 16.
“Josh is praying to keep him and to improve his character and to walk in the spirit.”
That is the last public message concerning the present circumstances of Josh Duggar, the firstborn of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children.
UPDATE: Four days after this article was published, the Duggar family plane made a trip to Rockford, Illinois, and returned with passengers to Springdale, Arkansas. Read the full update.
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[Photo via TLC]
