Josh Duggar Scandals Cause ‘Hate’ As Duggars Film TV Reboot: Duggar Family Minister Slapped With Sex Abuse Claims
It’s never dull in Duggarville. First, there were the sex scandals surrounding oldest son Josh Duggar, beginning with the reports that he molested several underage girls when he was a teen, including some of his sisters and ending with his link with the Ashley Madison website to cheat on wife Anna Duggar and porn addiction confession, after which he entered rehab. In addition, porn star Danica Dillon hit Josh with a $500,000 lawsuit that claimed Duggar injured her emotionally and physically during their alleged rough sexual encounters, as the Inquisitr reported.
All those scandals tarnished not just Josh but the entire Duggar family. As a result, the Duggars are getting slammed for filming a reboot of 19 Kids And Counting, a source told ET.
ET’s source revealed that the townsfolk are irate about the return of the camera crews.
“There is a lot of hate regarding the family. After all that has happened, this isn’t the same family in many people’s eyes.”
As to whether Josh will make an appearance on the new show, the source did not know. But the insider did reveal that he’s staying in rehab, leaving Anna Duggar in the midst of Duggarville.
The Duggar family’s TV success halted when TLC canceled 19 Kids And Counting in July in the wake of the revelations about Josh’s molestation of underage girls, four of whom were his sisters. That cancellation was followed by a special featuring two of the sisters molested by Josh. Jill & Jessa: Counting On in December on TLC featuring Jill Duggar Dillard and Jessa Duggar Seewald.
As to the specifics of the new show, a different insider revealed to ET that the Duggars remain under contract with the network, with TLC particularly interested in the stories that would again feature some of Josh’s sisters.
But when will Josh emerge from rehab and help his wife Anna out in raising their four children? Duggar began his rehab program in August. She recently revealed that she had visited Josh, blogging about the experience.
“[The visit to Josh was] an important step on a long difficult road,” wrote Anna. “2015 was the most difficult year of my life. Yet, amazingly I’ve found that in my own life crisis God has drawn near to me (‘He’s near to the brokenhearted’ Psalms 34:18) and my faith has been more precious to me than ever before.”
The lawsuit alleges that the Duggar’s minister Bill Gothard is guilty of sexual abuse and harassment. There are now 18 plaintiffs with claims against Gothard, who is the founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles.
The court documents have revealed that three additional women are alleging that Gothard, now 81, either harassed or sexually abused them. One of the victims claims that the abuse began when she was only 13-years-old. Moreover, plaintiffs allege that both Gothard and IBLP staff focused on hiding the alleged crimes rather than notify police.
One of the newest plaintiffs describes seeing the Duggar’s family minister molest or sexually harass over 150 young women. That plaintiff, Daniel Dorsett, was his driver, and revealed that he was threatened with going “to hell” if he revealed what he observed.
Plaintiffs are represented by a lawyer, David Gibbs III, who has likened Gothard’s situation to that of Bill Cosby, faced with repeated allegations of raping women.
In the $500,000 lawsuit filed in January by 10 former IBLP members (all women), Gothard is accused of “sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and inappropriate/unauthorized touching.”
In 2014, Gothard stepped down from his ministry. He wrote a letter of apology.
“I was very wrong in holding hands, giving hugs and touching their hair or feet,” admitted the Duggar-linked minister. “I was also wrong in making statements that caused emotional turmoil and confusion. My guilty is compounded by my hypocrisy of requiring standards for others but not following them myself.”
But in terms of the other allegations, he did not confess.
[Image via Duggar Family/Facebook]
