by Mel cross posted from her blog When Cows and Kids Collide

As long as the Duggars were avoiding the media, I didn’t want to read through the police report. I hoped that the Duggars would show some level of humility and compassion for their own daughters and allow them to start healing through access to counseling. I didn’t want to make things worse for the daughters…..

Then, JimBo and Miz JimBo decided to take the offensive with “We did the best we could!”, “We’ve heard of this happening before”, “The media is EVIL” and the comment that triggered my rage “Yeah, you know. Parents aren’t mandated reporters.”

Well, buddies….I’m using my mandated reporter self to read the police report. Then I’m gonna read your interviews. I’m gonna use my voice and my blog to point out the lying, hypocritical, self-absorbed shit you have been pedaling.

I know that a lot of people can’t read the police report due to triggering events. All the police report triggers in me is rage. Rage that I couldn’t protect your kids because they weren’t in my classroom. Rage that you are still covering up and pretending to be parents of the year.

*Sighs* Anyways…..I’ve tried to make this as trigger-free as possible, but it’s not. If sexual abuse is triggering to you, please stop reading. It’s not worth it. Use the time to send empowering thoughts to the Duggar kids or pray or…something.

From the police reports, there are some details that could be used to identify which daughter or son is being interviewed at any time. I will not report any of those details and I have not tried to identify the daughters in any way. The daughters and sons are assigned letters according to the order that they were interviewed by the police.

Feel free to check my references. Link to Police Report (PR). I’ve cited where I’ve pulled the information in the police report from with the citation (PR ##) where PR = Police Report and ## = page number of police report

Here’s a crib of the police reports:

Precipitating Incidents of the Police Report being filed:

At some point after the molestation incidents, someone wrote a letter about Josh sexually assaulting someone and placed it in a book. The Duggars lent the book out a few years later and the letter was found. Jim-Bob and Michelle will not identify who wrote the letter.(PR 12)

On a date prior to December 12th, 2006, a faxed report was received by the police hotline explaining that the Duggars were aware of multiple molestation incidents involving Josh and had had Josh talk to a police officer but a report had never been filed. The caller also expressed concern that Josh had never received treatment. (PR 11)

On December 7th, 2006, Harpo Studio receives an email from a concerned person who knows the Duggars warning that Josh had molested girls and his parents were hiding the incidents. Harpo Studio forwards the email to the police in AR and cancels the Duggars appearance on Oprah.(PR 12,13)

The Duggars are called into the police station. Whenever reached on the phone, Michelle refuses to make any plans without consulting Jim Bob. (PR 12)

Timeline according to Jim Bob and Michelle’s report to the police.

Jim Bob and Michelle are interviewed December 12th, 2006. Jim Bob (“James”) tells the story.

First disclosure: March 2002:

Josh disclosed to Jim Bob that he had molested one of his sisters “4 or 5” times while she was sleeping in the living room on a couch (PR pg 14.). This daughter (“A”) only remembers partially waking up when she thought Josh was taking her blanket away (PR pg 14.). While the names of the daughters are redacted, the rest of the sentence is clear that at least two of the daughters have been sleeping in a common area of the house (like the living room) rather than in a bedroom on a semi-regular basis. (PR 14)

Second disclosure: July 2002

Josh disclosed to his parents that he had molested another girl. This girl was most likely not a Duggar sibling because Jim Bob needed to explain who she was to the reporting officer (PR pg 14). The Duggars punished Josh (PR pg 15).

Third disclosure: March 2003

Jim Bob and Michelle are aware of two more incidents.

They received a call from someone (either Josh or one of his siblings) after Josh had molested a sibling (Daughter “C”) while reading her a book in the presence of his other siblings (PR 15).

They are aware of Josh molesting a different sister near the laundry room at some point before this incident.

Jim Bob and Michelle bring this information to the church elders, are afraid of the state-level correctional facility for sex offenders and decide to ship Josh off to a manual labor and counseling program from March 2003-July 2003. (PR 15)

When Josh returns home, the church elders and Jim Bob take him to see Sgt. Hutchins since Jim Bob knew him from when Hutchins inspected car dealerships. Sgt. Hutchins talks to Josh, then fails to do a mandated reporting of the abuse. Hutchins accepts the “treatment” program as a valid punishment (PR 16).

Inteview with Duggar Daughter “A”:

Daughter A remembers being asleep on a chair alone in the living room. She woke up when she thought Josh was taking her blanket. They were the only people in the room and both of them were clothed. Josh confessed to his parents and Sister A that he touched her over her clothing on her breasts and privates. Daughter A confirms on a drawing that privates is a term used for vagina. (PR 17)

When asked if she knows of any other incidents, she had heard that Josh molested another young woman who was at the house as a babysitter when the babysitter had fallen asleep on the couch. (PR 18).

Interview with Duggar Daughter “B”:

The redactions make this interview hard to follow. This daughter is either describing an incident where she was molested by Josh or an incident where her sister was molested by Josh. I think this is the daughter who was molested by the laundry room, but I cannot be certain. (PR 19-20)

Interview with Duggar Daughter “C”:

Daughter “C” describes being molested by Josh while he read her a book. The interview is complicated by the fact that this daughter does not know the terms for vagina, buttock, or penis. She uses the term “privates or private” to describe all of them. The daughter was clear on which part of her body Josh touched that time. The redacted sections are difficult to decipher in places, but a possible outcome is that Josh ran out of the room and called his parents OR another sibling ran out of the room and called the parents. (PR 21-22)

Interview with Duggar Daughter “D”

This daughter became upset during the interview. This daughter remembers seeing Josh put his hand under the dress of one of her sisters in the laundry room. She had also been told that Josh had touched her while she was sleeping, but she didn’t remember that time.(PR pg 23-24.)



Police make contact with the parents of the babysitter who was molested. They don’t really think the incident was a problem – insist that everything is fine between the families – and allow their daughter to make a choice about interviewing. (pg 24)



Interview with Duggar Daughter “E”

This daughter doesn’t remember any molestation incidents involving herself, but gives some insights into the events around when Daughter “C” was molested. Some of the siblings were out to eat with the Duggar parents and Michelle’s father when Josh molested “C”. The absent siblings were probably an older group because this daughter used the term “[redacted name] up” to describe who was gone. This section suggests that Josh called the Duggar parents to come home because several redacted areas seem to be four characters long (or match the other redacted “Josh”) and are followed by a redacted “he”. This sibling thought Josh left for counseling in July. Josh’s actions lead to something being canceled. At the very end, the daughter mentions that someone makes her uncomfortable and had placed a hand on someone’s hip in the past. (PR pg 25-26)

{Dear God in Heaven, can’t any of these girls get away from people hurting them?}

Interview with Duggar Son “F”

This interview runs differently than most of the others which is why I think one of the older boys was being interviewed. The son knew nothing of the molestation incidents firsthand. He had heard about them in the two family meetings that were held one year apart. The son remembers Josh being sent off twice after the second incident to help re-model a home. The son has never been touched in an inappropriate area. The son explains that the older daughters and grandmother babysit when the parents are gone – but he babysits for short periods of time. Josh also babysits for short periods of time with another sibling. (PR 26-28)



Interview with young Duggar Son”G”

I am not certain of the gender of this child, but I think it is one of the young sons. My rationale is that when asked if it is ok to be touched on the chest, the girls all answered “No” while this child answered yes. This child had not seen anyone touch anyone else inappropriately or been touched on the genitals. When asked if it was ok to be touched on the buttocks, the child answered ‘sometimes’. The kid replied to questioning that it’s ok for mom or dad to touch you on the buttocks if you are in trouble and you are getting spanked. The officer asked what the parents spank with and the kid replied with a rod. The kid also replied (to a question) that the spankings did not leave bruises. (PR 28-29)

The officer makes contact with Michelle to set up an interview with another kid. They set the time. The officer asks about the training center Josh was sent to. Michelle explains that the center wasn’t a center and the “counselor” wasn’t certified. She explains that he was a guy they knew who was remodeling a building. The officer asks if he was a mentor. Michelle replies “Kind of.” (PR 30)



Interview with unrelated female “H”

“H” remembers nothing of the molestation by Josh. She learned of it when the Duggars called her parents and Josh confessed. She remembers the night she stayed over, but not the attack. She hasn’t seen Josh since he returned from Little Rock. (PR 30-31)

After this, the Duggars shut down communication with the police and retain a lawyer for Josh.(PR 32-33)

I feel queasy. I’m gonna go feed calves and chickens until I feel better.

Here. Have some calf pictures from me to you.

Images from When Cows and Kids Collide

Yeah, he’s nursing at the wrong end. They do that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read everything by Mel! Mel is a science teacher who works with at-risk teens and lives on a dairy farm with her husband. She’s a wise fount of knowledge about things involving living with a farmer and farming. She blogs at When Cows and Kids Collide ~~~~~~~~~~~~

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