What to Know
In the week since Joseph Duggar and his wife, Kendra Duggar, were arrested for charges involving two completely different incidents, members of the family have slowly begun to speak out. On Thursday, it was Jason Duggar’s turn to issue a statement on the charges his brother is facing, and out of all of his siblings who have spoken publicly about the situation, this might be the most condemning stance any of them have taken so far.
Jason shared his statement on Instagram.
The statement came from both Jason and his wife, Maddie, who wrote that they were “shocked, confused, and grieved” to find out that Joseph had been accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation in 2020.
“Our hearts are burdened because a child’s life has been turned upside down due to evil actions of someone who should have never hurt the vulnerable. This is something unthinkable,” they wrote. “We are angered by what was happened, and we pray God’s righteous hand and the court system will serve justice in the situation as deserved.”
They also ended their statement on a pretty solid note: “We ask that you pray for the victim who has been brave enough to share what has happened. We also ask that you pray for his family at this time, as his children must face the reality of losing a father that should have been a spiritual leader in their lives. We stand with innocent children. Always.”
People are impressed with how strong his language was in the price.
While Duggar critics on Reddit are known for coming down hard on the famous family, this time, people are surprisingly supportive of how hard Jason is coming down on his brother’s actions.
“The wording about his children losing their father is saying a lot,” one commenter wrote. “It’s a solid, strong statement but that’s the part that really surprises me. It sounds like they’d be supportive of his family choosing to cut ties instead of standing by and offering forgiveness like they’re taught.”
Others thought that Jason’s choice of words could be a sign of where his relationship with parents Jim Bob and Michelle currently stands, with one writing, “I wonder how this is going to rift the family and what will happen between Jim Bob and Michelle and Jason. This statement makes me wonder how much time they spend with his parents anyway.”
A few of his other siblings have also issued statements of their own.
Most recently, his older sister Jinger and her husband, Jeremy, shared their thoughts on an episode of their podcast that first went live on Wednesday.
“You can’t be prepared for news like this, even though we’ve experienced something very similar before, with one of my other siblings, who made unthinkable choices, decisions that have affected all of us,” Jinger said. “And yet the pain and hurt that’s caused to us, but then to so many others, is just so hard. It’s hard to know what to do sometimes, moving forward. You just feel the weight of it.”
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