Two Duggar sisters who were among the underage girls Josh Duggar molested as a teen took their turn defending the “19 Kids and Counting” family Friday on Fox News.
Jill Dillard, 24, and Jessa Seewald, 22, identified as “victims” of their brother, sat down with Megyn Kelly for a one-hour Fox special that aired at 9 p.m.
They said they chose to speak out to protect their brother, who’s been unfairly maligned.
“(We) were talking and were like, ‘Oh my goodness, most of the stuff out there is lies. It’s not the truth.’ And for truth’s sake, we wanted to come out and set the record straight,” said Dillard.
Seewald acknowledged their brother “was very wrong.” But she insisted he was a typical curious teen — not a molester. “I’m not going to justify anything that he did or say it was OK… (he) was a young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls. And that got him into some trouble,” said Seewald.
“And he made some bad choices, but really the extent of it was mild, inappropriate touching, on fully clothed victims, most of it while girls were sleeping,” she added. Neither knew their brother was touching them until he confessed to their parents.
“It wasn’t like we were keeping a secret, afraid or something. We didn’t know until Josh explained to my parents what his thought process was, what everything was,” said Dillard.
The family was saddened when Josh Duggar was sent away to a camp as punishment. When he returned, the girls had locks on their doors and parents Michelle, 47, and Jim Bob Duggar, 49, no longer left them alone with their brother.
The sisters blasted critics who called the Duggars hypocritical for promoting their Christian values and lifestyle on TV, all while hiding a serial molester.
“We’ve never claimed to be a perfect family. . .. We are just a family,’ “said Dillard.
Seewald added that dealing with media coverage of the ordeal has been “1,000 times worse” than the actual molestation.
Josh Duggar, now 27 and married, admitted to sexually molesting his sisters and a family friend at least 15 times between 2002 and 2003.
With Denis Slattery, Meg Wagner
