Jim Bob Duggar may be the reason why no criminal charges stemmed from the 2006 investigation into the sexual molestation allegations lodged against his son. According to the ex-cop involved in the case, the Duggar family patriarch lied about the number of victims and downplayed the incidents.
According to In Touch Weekly , the disgraced ex-state trooper involved in the case, Joseph Hutchens, says when Jim Bob Duggar went to the Arkansas state police in 2006, there were actually five alleged victims and multiple instances of molestation involving his son. The 19 Kids and Counting dad told the investigators at the time that he had already taken his son to see Hutchens about the molestation incident and that Josh Duggar had admitted to Hutchens “what he had done.”
The convicted ex-cop claims that Jim Bob, however, downplayed the molestation allegations and only told the ex-state trooper of one incident of touching a victim’s clothing. This, Hutchens claims, is the reason he did not report Josh Duggar to the abuse hotline at that time. His failure to report the abuse allegations is the reason why the Arkansas state police stopped the 2006 investigation — the statute of limitations had run out.
The Daily Mail reports that Joseph Hutchens was convicted of possessing child pornography in 2007. He was released on parole in 2010. While out on parole, the former state trooper was arrested again and is now serving out a 60-year prison sentence, according to Radar Online .
Although Hutchens himself admits his credibility is shot due to his own criminal past, he is adamant that had Jim Bob Duggar told the truth and not downplayed the extent of the molestation, he would have reported the incident and has regretted his decision not to file a complaint ever since.
“I did what I thought was right and obviously it wasn’t. If I had to do it over again, I would have told him immediately I am going to call the hotline and contacted the trooper that worked those cases and have a full report made. I thought I could handle it myself. I have lost a lot of sleep over it. I am a Christian myself and I worry that something else may have happened. I would be responsible for it, in my opinion, by not reporting it. The young girl should have been my first priority.”
Jim Bob Duggar has yet to publicly respond to Hutchens’ allegations that he lied to cops during the 2006 investigation.
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