Josh Duggar sexually abused several of his younger sisters when he was a teenager by inappropriately touching their breasts and genital areas on multiple occasions, sometimes while they were sleeping and sometimes when they were awake, according to released police documents and later reporting. Four of the five known victims were his sisters, and one was a family babysitter.

Quick Scoop: What happened

  • In 2015, an old police report became public showing that Josh, at about 14–15 years old, had inappropriately touched five underage girls in the early 2000s.
  • Reports and later summaries say he touched his sisters’ breasts and genital region over their clothes and under their clothing, sometimes reaching under a dress or cornering a sister in a room.
  • Four victims were his younger sisters; the fifth was a babysitter.
  • Some of the abuse happened while the girls were asleep or very young, which the parents later claimed meant they did not always understand what was happening.
  • Two sisters, Jill and Jessa, later identified themselves publicly as victims and described the behavior as “inappropriate touching” and “bad choices,” while still defending their brother to some degree at the time.

Later fallout and context

  • The scandal became public in 2015 when a 2006 police investigation file was released, which led to TLC canceling the show “19 Kids and Counting.”
  • Years later, his cousin Amy Duggar King said she confronted him and believes he specifically targeted sisters who were less likely to report him, given the family’s strict religious environment and power dynamics.
  • Separate from what he did to his sisters as a teen, Josh Duggar was later convicted in federal court for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material and is serving a prison sentence.

This topic involves sexual abuse. If reading about this is distressing or if you or someone you know has experienced abuse, it may help to reach out to a trusted person or a professional support line in your country.

TL;DR: Josh Duggar, as a teen, molested four of his younger sisters and a babysitter by inappropriately touching their breasts and genitals, according to police records and the sisters’ later statements; the abuse became public years later and contributed to the cancellation of the family’s TV show and to wider scrutiny of the family and its religious community.

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