What to Know
If you look hard enough you can find something a little uncomfortable and even controversial about pretty much every old episode of 19 Kids and Counting. Even the earlier specials, 14 Children and Pregnant Again! and On the Road with 16 Children have scenes that might surprise viewers now, in hindsight.
Such is the case with an old episode of one of the early specials. A user on Reddit made a post where they pointed out how, in the episode, Josh Duggar is left home alone with siblings, some of whom are younger sisters. This wouldn’t be an issue, except that this happened after what we now know to be the period of time when he was accused of molesting four younger sisters. So yeah, not great.
Josh Duggar was still left alone with his victims after the molestation happened.
In the episode detailed in the Reddit post, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar leave the family’s home so Michelle can head to the hospital to give birth to one of the younger kids. In the episode, Josh is left home with John David, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar at least. Josh’s victims were reportedly Jinger, Jessa, Jill, and Joy-Anna Duggar.
The Redditor explained in their post, “This is AFTER Josh had his head shaved for his ‘sins,’ so we know he has already ‘confessed’ and probably already had the talk from their police officer friend. But if Jill, Jana, Grandma and Grandpa are at the hospital, then who is home with the girls? The next oldest girl would have been Jessa and she was like 11 at that time. I know John David was there, but what I’m getting at is they left Josh home (unsupervised) with the younger girls.”
Although Josh had already supposedly paid for his sins by attending Alert Academy, a common faith-based training program for boys within the Duggar family’s conservative Christian religion, it was still likely not a good idea to leave him home without parents. And, looking back with what we know now, it feels downright chilling.
Someone boldly commented on Reddit with, “They didn’t care about their kids. They didn’t care about Josh abusing his sisters. They let it happen.”
Another user wrote, “We have no idea who was left at the house, but I’m sure Josh had access to children when whomever was watching because they probably didn’t know the full details of his crimes.”
And there really is something to be said for the general atmosphere of the Duggars’ home in those early years of their shows.
“Man every time I see the early episodes I can’t imagine how miserable the older girls’ lives were,” a user commented. “The incessant chores, crowded conditions, moral policing, food insecurity, ugly unfashionable clothes, plus [Josh]. I don’t think there were any other adults but the parents since the house was so dang small.”
Josh Duggar’s first scandal happened during the first ’19 Kids and Counting’ specials
@honeymochiproductions Hey guys! This is the only version of this video i could find, so sorry about the lagging and popups. I’m seaching for the dvd so i can get it in better quality but its really hard to find #duggars #duggarfamily #duggartiktok #19kidsandcounting #19kidsandcountingclips #fyp ♬ original sound – Honeymochi
According to Jill and Jessa, who spoke to Fox News, per USA Today, about the molestation in 2015, years after it occurred, there were rules in place in the family home to make sure Josh did not abuse his siblings. One of those was reportedly that Josh was not permitted to babysit his younger siblings. In this case, in the old pre-19 Kids and Counting special, Josh wasn’t the babysitter, but he was left home without parental supervision.
Per the outlet, Josh stated that when he admitted his actions to his parents, he understood that he had to correct his behavior.
“We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling,” Josh said. “I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life.”
He also went to a program to correct his behavior.
Some of the earliest episodes of the Duggars’ show and specials show Josh with a shaved head. This, to many longtime viewers, is a telltale sign of Josh attending Alert for either the molestation scandal that had been kept quiet for years, or for other hypothetical behavior. Although Josh did attend Alert as a child, we know now that the scandals just kept coming, with him at the center of them.
READ NEXT: A Resurfaced Clip of Jim Bob Duggar Has People Saying the Bar for Dads Has Never Been Lower
