Josh Duggar is known to have molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. Thus far, two of his sisters, Jessa Duggar (now married to Ben Seewald) and Jill Duggar (now married to Derick Dillard) have self-identified as among those victims. But which of Josh’s sisters are holding onto the family secrets, and are all of those secrets known to the public — or even all of the Duggars?
Joy-Anna Duggar turns 18 on October 28, based on the Duggar family blog birthday list. When she comes of age, is it possible that she will add additional ammunition to the reports that have already shocked the world about the formerly squeaky clean Duggars?
Some media reports have indicated that one reason the names of all victims molested by Josh were not published is because one of the girls is still not yet 18, according to the Hollywood Gossip .
With Jinger and Janna Duggar now over age 18, many are assuming that Joy-Anna Duggar is one of the other sisters molested by Josh in addition to Jessa and Jill. But what’s not known is whether, when she turns 18, Joy-Anna will subsequently follow the lead of her oldest sisters and talk about what happened.
When Josh was molesting his sisters and the babysitter, Joy-Anna was 4- to 5-years-old. Now, as she becomes an adult, will she turn on the Duggars and attack her brother?
The police report contains allegations that when he was 14, Josh Duggar reportedly molested a sister who was 5-years-old, reported Starcasm . The report references Jim Bob’s version of what happened.
“[Jim Bob] said that [Josh] was reading to his 5 year old sister and as she was sitting on his lap, he had touched her breasts and vaginal area… [Jim Bob] said that [redacted] then ran out of the room and called him and told him what he had done… during this time frame, his daughter had been standing in the laundry room and [Josh] had put his hand under her dress.”
Jim Bob then talked to church elders, who advised sending Josh to a Bible-based treatment program. But the report shows that the Duggar patriarch knew about the repeated molestations for more than 12 months.
Josh had come to Jim Bob and confessed to fondling his sisters’ body parts while they were asleep, as well as touching a young woman spending the night on the couch in the family home.
With that background, is it possible that Joy-Anna could step forward and rebel by talking about her memories?
Thus far, Jessa is the one who has been seen as the family rebel by sharing a blog that criticized Josh, reported Fashion & Style .
Authored by her father-in-law, Michael Seewald, the blog attacked Duggar as hypocritical.
“With the name of God on his lips he lived a covert and extensive lifestyle of evil. While proudly saying things like, ‘Our family is like the epitome of conservative values,’ [Josh Duggar] was looking at porn and soliciting affairs,” wrote Jessa’s father-in-law.
As Josh stays in a Bible-based rehab to be treated for his issues (thus far, Duggar has admitted to the molestation, being addicted to porn, and using the Ashley Madison website to cheat on his wife, Anna), his sisters, Jessa and Jill, are filming a new version of 19 Kids And Counting that focuses on them. A preview revealed that the fact that they were molested by Josh is addressed in the show.
“Here I am, the most joyful time of my life, newly married, baby on the way and then… We were devastated,” shared Jessa. “Like, we couldn’t believe it. You have to wonder like how did this happen.”
Jill described herself as feeling “angry and hurt,” and shared that she weeps repeatedly because she still feels emotional pain from the experience.
In their series, Counting On , Jill and Jessa will appear with many of the other Duggars. Among them is Joy-Anna.
The fifth-oldest of the Duggar family, Joy-Anna rocked the Internet about a year ago by showing off her weight-lifting skills while wearing a skirt, reported the Stir .
Doing squats and lifting 145 pounds modestly attired, Joy-Anna was filmed in the weight room by her older sister, Jessa. Ben Seewald helped his sister-in-law achieve her weight-lifting goals.
As to why Joy-Anna wore a skirt to lift weights, she was following the Duggar family rules as interpreted by Michelle Duggar on modest clothing.
“[We] felt like we needed to be covered from our neck to below our knees mainly because God talks about the thigh being uncovered, and how that’s nakedness and shame. I realize that you can’t keep somebody from having wrong thoughts, but I do think you have control at least on how you present yourself. So as the older girls and guys grew up they became sensitive to their clothing choices.”
But did all those rules help when Josh confessed to the Duggar patriarch Jim Bob and matriarch Michelle that he had molested his sisters, and will Joy-Anna be the one to provide new details?
The Duggar family Web site reveals some hints of Joy-Anna ‘s personality. And while many of her sisters want to focus in the future on having children and sharing their religion, Joy-Anna Duggar also has her career dream set on a position that would give her a chance to take a stance in public: She wants to become a politician.
Will that determination to share her views publicly cause her to open up about hidden secrets from the Duggars’ past?
Jim Bob has revealed his version of what Josh told the Duggars, reported the Washington Post .
“[Josh] said he was just curious about girls and he had gone in and just basically touched them over their clothes while they were sleeping; they didn’t even know he had done it,” claimed Jim Bob.
Subsequently, Jill and Jessa revealed how they reacted to what they felt is a system that failed to protect them.
“We are victims, they can’t do this to us,” said Jill of the tabloid headlines.
“The system that was set up to protect kids, both those who make stupid mistakes or have problems like this in their life and the ones that are affected by those choices — it’s greatly failed,” added Jessa.
[Photo by Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images]